SC to examine plea on black money in foreign banks

New Delhi, Apr 21 (PTI) The demand for bringing back
the huge amounts of money illegally stashed in foreign banks
grew stronger Tuesday with a group of prominent citizens
moving the Supreme Court of India, seeking a directive to the
Union Government on the issue.

The petitioners, who included prominent jurist and
former Union Law Minister Ram Jethmalani, submitted that if
the Rs 70 lakh crore, purportedly stashed in foreign banks,
are retrieved it would substantially remove poverty in the
country and promote its development.

They urged the apex court to direct the Centre to
initiate steps with the foreign banks, particularly the UBS
Bank, Switzerland, for freezing the accounts of Indian
businessmen, politicians and other influential persons
illegally holding their assets in such financial institutions.

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice K G
Balakrishnan, asked the petitioners to mention the matter
before it Wednesday so that it could examine the plea.

The bench passed the direction after senior counsel
Anil Diwan made an impromptu mention before it for an early
hearing.

The filing of the petition assumes significance as
Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) prime ministerial candidate L K
Advani besides, the Left parties and others have been pressing
the Government to approach the foreign banks for bringing back
the black money

Quoting certain journals and media reports, the
petition said that the Rs 70 lakh crore siphoned off from the
country between 2002 and 2006 has been stashed in foreign
banks, which was within the knowledge of the Union Government,
but no action has been taken against such persons.

It cited the purported statement made by Finance
Minister of India P Chidambaram wherein he publicly
acknowledged the stashing away of such illegal money in
foreign banks by influential Indians.

The petitioners stated that the US Government in June
last year had adopted a multi-pronged initiative to uncover
the identities of an estimated 52,000 US citizens who owned
secret accounts in UBS and other banks in foreign countries.

"This is to be contrasted with the shocking inaction
of the public authorities in India, particularly the Ministry
of Finance.

"Neither the general public nor Parliament has been
apprised of any action taken and all that has been
communicated to the nation is that a letter has been written
by the Minister of Finance to the Leader of the Opposition,"
the petition said.

The petition listed the alleged instance of the
Enforcement Directorate detecting deposits made to the tune of
8.04 billion dollars with the UBS Bank in Zurich by one Hasan
Ali Khan in Pune during a raid in January 2007.

The Income Tax Department had also served a demand
notice to the tune of Rs 20,580 crore on Khan, besides, for
Rs 40,000 crore from Kashinath Tapuria and his wife Chandrika
Tapuria of Kolkota, alleged co-conspirators of Khan, it was
claimed in the petition.

According to the petition, unregistered Foreign
Investment Institutions (FIIs) had entered the stock market
through participatory notes and as such their credentials were
not known thus exposing the country to grave threat.

"Investments in the Indian markets made through
partcipatory notes do not disclose whether the real investor
is a terrorist, a spy or a tax evader. They were without
names or addresses. This activity was stopped by the SEBI for
nearly a year but the practice was restored.

"Huge profits made by such manipulations of the stock
market were quitely siphoned out of the country, thus denuding
the national wealth," the petitioners said.

It was submitted that Indian people have been deprived
of assets which if available would substantially contribute
towards developmental work in the country and removing
poverty.

"Public servants and Government authorities have
clearly demonstrated their intention not only to be apathetic
but to actively shield this blatant dacoity of national wealth
by influential people," the petitioners alleged.

The petition urged the apex court to pass appropriate
directions to the Centre to come forward with details on the
extent of the illegal money stashed in foreign banks and take
steps to freeze such illegal accounts, so that the money
could be brought back.

The petition has cited the Ministry of Finance,
Reserve Bank of India, Securities Exchange Board of India,
Directorate of Enforcement and Central Board of Direct Taxes
as respondents.

Those who filed the petition included former Punjab
Director General of Police (DGP) K P S Gill and former Lok
Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) Secretary General Subhash
Kashyap. PTI RB