Indian government has given a list containing names of all
Indians suspected to have parked untaxed wealth in foreign banks to the Supreme
Court. The list with 627 names was submitted to the court in a sealed envelope
on Wednesday. The top court has said the list will be forwarded to the special
investigation team (SIT) which is inquiring into the issue of illegal funds. It
is estimated that Indians hold $500bn (£297bn) in overseas tax
havens. India says illegal funds are often sent to tax
havens, including Mauritius, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and the British Virgin
Islands, and the new government has said "unearthing black money is an important
issue" for them. In June, India set up a special task force to find "black
money", in one of the first decisions taken by the new Prime Minister, Narendra
Modi.
On Monday, the government disclosed to the court names of seven
people and one company it said were being prosecuted over accusations of
concealing wealth kept in foreign banks from income tax authorities. But critics
have accused the government of "drip-feeding" names and trying to protect
powerful people, prompting the Supreme Court's latest order. "Why are you trying
to protect people having bank accounts in foreign countries?" Chief Justice HL
Dattu asked government lawyers on Tuesday. Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley told reporters that the "government shall place the list before the
court because the government has already given it to the court-constituted
special investigation team". "The truth about these names and also these
accounts must come out so that penal action can be taken against the people and
the money lying there can be brought back to India," he said. In 2011, French
authorities informed India of some 700 Indians with Swiss bank accounts - the
information came from a data leak by a bank employee. Analysts say this flight of capital has helped widen inequality in India.
The former Congress party-led government had been on the back foot on the issue
of "black money" and corruption, and the Supreme Court has also chided the
government for not doing enough to unearth illicit money.
