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Find source of black money: SC by Dhananjay Mahapatra
The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the government to widen the scope of its action on black money beyond the issue of tax evasion, questioning why it had not gone after those who had stashed huge amounts of money abroad or inquired about the source of the siphoned funds.

The Centre explained the difficulty in revealing the names of foreign bank account holders who were in the zone of suspicion for parking illegal funds abroad. However, an unimpressed court persisted, "You know the names, why have you not gone after them to ascertain the source of the money."

A Bench comprising Justices B Sudershan Reddy and S S Nijjar did not relent on its week-old stand that black money, which some estimates put at $1 trillion, was "plunder of the nation" and "pure and simple theft of Indian economy".

The Centre had handed to the court a list of 26 Indians who allegedly kept black money in Leichtenstein's LGT Bank and said tax authorities had initiated proceedings against 18 of them.

The court's query relating to source of black money was based on its apprehension that it could be from extortion rackets, arms running, drug smuggling or terrorism-related activities.

Asking for a better response on action taken by Tuesday, the Bench said, "They are people and citizens of this country. They are amenable to our law. What have you (government) done after you came to know that X amount of money has been stashed away by them."

It added, "Have you made any inquiry how this money has come, whether it is arms deal, smuggling, corruption or any such activity. Now that you know the names concerning LGT Bank, have you set the law in motion or any investigation to verify the source of money."

Petitioner and former law minister Ram Jethmalani had alleged that government was trying to sweep the entire black money issue under the carpet. His counsel Anil Divan accused the government of not taking any step to probe the LGT Bank account holders as also the alleged transfer of $8 billion by one Hasan Ali Khan from Swiss Bank.

A few minutes into the hearing, the Bench also sought the Centre's response on a petition filed by former police officer Julio Ribeiro, who wanted to know the steps taken by government to implement the UN Convention on Corruption and other international treaties providing for tax information exchange.

Unable to fathom the Centre's unwillingness to crack the whip, the Bench asked, "When you get information that a person has kept money abroad, your first anxiety is to know who this man is, how could he have stashed so much money abroad. After all, these are Indian citizens amenable to Indian laws."

Solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam said the government was in the process of collecting information about foreign bank account details under the double taxation avoidance agreements (DTAA) and the mutual exchange information agreements.

The information would be shared by the Income Tax department with other investigative agencies, he said. "There are trails to be followed by I-T department in the first instance. The DTAA is the door to bring in the information. Once it has come, the information will then be shared," he said.

Referring to Indians holding accounts in LGT Bank, the Bench said, "We want to know whether these people are capable of accumulating so much money, whether they are the real faces and what their source is? Its not just about tax evasion and that's the most dangerous part."

Giving five days to the Centre to file an affidavit detailing the action taken under laws other than taxation, the Bench said, "If you have done anything in this direction, we want to know."

An SC bench comprising Justices B Sudershan Reddy and S S Nijjar did not relent on its week-old stand that black money, which some estimates put at $1 trillion, was "plunder of the nation" and "pure and simple theft of Indian economy".

The Centre had handed to the court a list of 26 Indians who allegedly kept black money in Leichtenstein's LGT Bank and said tax authorities had initiated proceedings against 18 of them.

The court's query relating to source of black money was based on its apprehension that it could be from extortion rackets, arms running, drug smuggling or terrorism-related activities. Asking for a better response on action taken by Tuesday, the Bench said, "They are citizens of this country. They are amenable to our law. What have you (government) done after you came to know that X amount of money has been stashed away by them." Petitioner Ram Jethmalani alleged the issue was trying to be swept under the carpet.