Response to Arun Jaitleys disinformation campaign on black money : by Seema Sapra -------------------------------------------- To Prime Minister Narendra Modi, I respond below to the explanation furnished by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley pursuant to widespread criticism of the application moved by the Government of India in the Black Money Case in the Supreme Court of India through Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi and of the position adopted by the BJP Government before the Supreme Court. I remind you that the BJP led by you contested the last general election invoking your anti-corruption credentials and your party promised the people of India that you would bring the black money looted from the nation and lying in banks overseas back to India. Unfortunately, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is misleading the country through his statement. There is no legal impediment to the immediate release of names of persons having undisclosed bank accounts overseas. On the contrary, Indian law demands that these names be disclosed so that a fair and impartial investigation and prosecution can follow. Arun Jaitleys specious arguments intended to mislead can be easily exposed as follows. The Government of India is in receipt of information that certain high net-worth Indian residents and citizens have maintained and/ or continue to maintain foreign bank accounts in Switzerland and in other tax havens. These bank accounts were not disclosed to Indian authorities. The Government of India can safely assume that a Swiss bank account would only be used to hold a fairly large sum of money. The Government of India knows the names of these individuals/ entities and based upon the Indian income tax records of these individuals/ entities the Government of India is aware that these foreign bank accounts were not disclosed in income tax filings and therefore held unaccounted and undisclosed income from unknown sources. In several cases, this money would most likely be the proceeds of criminal activity including corruption. This part requires further investigation. However, the Government of India already knows the extent to which the funds in these accounts contain undisclosed income of India residents/ citizens and which funds are the subject matter of tax evasion. Tax evasion is a criminal offence in India. International treaties cannot modify domestic criminal law. The Government already has the evidence to immediately charge these individuals/ entities with tax evasion and with the offence of money laundering under Section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (available online at finmin.nic.in/law/moneylaunderingact.pdf). The Government of India can then take recourse to the provisions of Chapter IX of this statute to seek further information and cooperation from the governments of the countries in which these bank accounts exist. Under Section 24 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the burden of proof that the proceeds of crime are untainted property is on the accused. This statute gives very wide powers to the relevant Indian authorities for search, discovery, inspection, collection of evidence and investigation in respect of the offence of money laundering. An officer of a banking company can be compelled to provide evidence and the production of bank records can also be compelled. The reach of this power is not limited to Indian banking companies. Officers of foreign banks can be summoned by Indian authorities under this statute. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley misleads when he states that the Double Taxation Avoidance Treaty between India and Germany (available online at advocatekhoj/…/agreeme…/doubletaxation/20.php) prevents the Government of India from disclosing names of Indian persons/ entities (obtained from the German Government) having overseas bank accounts until such persons are charged in a Court of Law. ----- If the information received prima facie discloses the commission of a crime, then under Indian law such information cannot be accorded any confidentiality. Any investigation and prosecution of a crime under Indian law is required to be public. Indian law does not countenance secret investigations/ prosecutions of either tax evasion or money laundering by state agencies and such secrecy would violate several guarantees under Indian law and the Indian Constitution. Particularly evidence requiring investigation of a public figure active in politics or occupying a public position (for e.g., within the government) for either tax evasion or money laundering ought to be publicly disclosed in public interest and such disclosure would be required by Indian law. The entire statement of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is therefore a malafide disinformation campaign intended to mislead the Indian people. The vast difference between the facts and the law and the statement of Arun Jaitley discloses such a clear intent to mislead and obfuscate issues and the law on the disclosure of these names that it can only be concluded that this misleading statement and the application moved in the Supreme Court are deliberate attempts to cover up the money laundering and tax evasion crimes of certain powerful, well-connected, influential and high net-worth individuals. The intent behind this statement and the court application is to subvert the application of Indian law to the investigation and prosecution of these crimes and to facilitate a cover up to enable some persons to evade the legal consequences of their unlawful acts. The BJP governments present position on this issue therefore amounts to a subversion of law and of its constitutional mandate and duties. The BJP must change stance and I request you to ensure that the attempted cover-up of black money crimes of powerful persons be stopped and that the law be allowed to take its course unobstructed by vested interests within your government. --- via Seema Sapra Link : seemasapra.blogspot.in/…/fwd-response-to-arun-jaitle…
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 08:43:12 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015