New Delhi, October 29 – The Centre on Wednesday named of 627 Indians holding illegal bank accounts abroad in a sealed cover to the Supreme Court, which on Tuesday had rapped the government for not revealing all the information in the case.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi submitted three sets of lists with the 627 names of people stashing untaxed or black money to the apex court, which fixed March 31, 2015 as the deadline to conclude the investigation into the case.
Talking to reporters after the hearing, Rohatgi said, “The court after hearing the Centre’s arguments did not open the cover but directed that the sealed covers should be given to the Special Investigation Team probing the case today itself.”
Rohatgi said more than half of the people in the list are Indian nationals while the rest are Non-Resident Indians. He said that most people named in the list, which was last updated in 2006, have their accounts with the HSBC Bank.
The Supreme Court also directed the government to share the list with the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation. The case will be next heard on December 3 after the SIT submits its status report by November 30.
The first list submitted in the Supreme Court contains the details of treaties and agreements India has signed with Swtizerland and other nations where the illegal money is said to be stashed. The second list has all the names while the third list has a status report on the investigation in the case.
Earlier on Wednesday, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the Centre is not interested in protecting anybody and will follow the court orders. “The government is not interested in protecting anybody. We will obey the court orders,” Singh said.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court had asked for all the names in a sealed cover, a day after the government named eight people being prosecuted for stashing untaxed money in illegal bank accounts in other countries. Sources say there are at least 800 Indians holding such accounts in foreign nations.
“The new regime cannot come and tell us to modify our orders. We will not clarify or modify our 2011 order,” the apex court said, adding, “The government’s only role is to request for information on black money accounts from foreign banks.”
In 2011, the Supreme Court, which has been monitoring the investigations into black money since 2009, had asked for complete disclosure of information on Indians holding black money abroad.
On Monday, the Centre revealed eight names of Indians holding illegal foreign bank accounts, which included consumer products giant Dabur India promoter Pradip Burman, Rajkot-based bullion trader Pankaj Chamanlal Lodhiya, Goa mining company Timblo Private Ltd and five of its directors – Radha Satish Timblo, Chetan S Timblo, Rohan S Timblo, Anna C Timblo and Mallika R Timblo.
– INDIA TODAY
