India to push Switzerland for information on black money

Faced with the daunting task of unearthing black money allegedly stashed abroad, the Centre on Tuesday said it would pursue amendment to the double taxation avoidance treaty (DTAT) with Switzerland to incorporate disclosure clause to force Swiss banks to share information about account holders suspected of parking illegal money.

Solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam informed a Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan that the Centre was also seriously considering invoking the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the case of Pune-based businessman Hasan Ali Khan to force foreign entities to share vital information with ED.

When Subramaniam submitted to the court the status report of ED's probe into Khan's case in a sealed cover, petitioner Ram Jethmalani's counsel Anil Divan objected to it, saying why could the Centre not make public the investigation into a case which would be in national interest.

Jethmalani, in his public interest litigation (PIL), had alleged that a whopping Rs 70 lakh crore of black money was stashed in foreign banks and that the government was doing precious little to get it back. Divan argued that cases should be lodged under PMLA against persons suspected of parking black money abroad to force foreign banks to share confidential data with India.

Divan referred to the case against Khan, alleged to have transacted $8 billion from his wife's Swiss bank account, and said, "Prima facie this a clear case which can be brought under PMLA. It is clear that Swiss authorities would be bound to disclose information if criminal cases are initiated against him apart from tax evasion."



TNN 30 September 2009, 12:32am IST NEW DELHI:

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