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India’s ‘Panama Papers’ on shell firms, tax loopholes gather dust -Gopikrishnan

-DailyPioneer.com

Tax firm’s leaked data includes correspondences with 33 Cos, HNWIs

India’s own ‘Panama papers’ are gathering dust with law enforcement agencies and the Delhi High Court (HC). The 1.5 GB leaked data belongs to the tax consulting firm Nishith Desai Associates and includes controversial tax-related correspondences involving 33 of India’s biggest corporates and several high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs).

A Delhi-based whistle-blower, who is a software engineer, first got the sensational data and communications that could pose serious trouble for corporate houses since it contains disturbing details on how to exploit loopholes in the country’s taxation regime and float shell firms across the world in places like Mauritius, Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, Guernsey Island, and Uganda, apparently to avoid taxes in India. 

The Pioneer has accessed the 1.5 GB data, which has 33 files with numerous correspondences between Nishith Desai Associates and big corporates and HNWIs. Noted advocate Prashant Bhushan has alleged that the ‘Desai Papers’ are on the lines of the ‘Panama Papers.’ The Panama Papers relate to a Panama-based tax firm’s involvement in helping companies and HNWIs in avoiding taxes by floating companies in tax havens.

Nishith Desai Associates is a Delhi-based legal and tax consulting firm having offices in Mumbai, Bengaluru, the Silicon Valley, Singapore, Munich, and New York. Interestingly, former SEBI chief UK Sinha’s documents like passport and credit card payments details are also available in the leaked documents. 

The whistle-blower Pankaj Jain and Prashant Bhushan in August 2020 approached the Black Money Commission, the CBDT and the Enforcement Directorate seeking a probe in the alleged tax evasion conspiracies by the corporates and HNWIs. Bhushan also submitted the entire data to these agencies.

“One whistle-blower has provided the undersigned with certain incriminating data in electronic format stored on an original device viz. a hard disk, containing inter alia, documents disclosing clear tax evasion. The said documents contain detailed financial information of a large number of entities and influential Indians, comprising, inter alia, memos, advice, audit reports, emails/correspondence of Venture Capitalists/ Private Equity funds, companies, HNWIs, etc.; and discloses a complex global network of offshore accounts and shell entities incorporated solely for the illegal purpose of evading taxes in India,” Bhushan wrote in his complaint.

After the role of Jain in leaking the data came to the knowledge of Desai, he approached the Delhi HC to restrain Jain.  On February 17 last year, he filed a case against Jain in Delhi HC directly in the chamber of Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw, without going to the Registry. Shockingly, the case was titled ‘Anuradha Vs Bajrangi’ whereas it should have been Nishith Desai Vs. Pankaj Jain.

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