17 people being prosecuted for stashing black money abroad

NEW DELHI: The government informed Parliament that 17 people are being prosecuted for stashing black money in Liechtenstein Bank.

"Prosecution has been launched in 17 cases. Since prosecution proceeding has been launched, the names of these 17 persons has been disclosed to the Court," Minister of State for Finance S S Palanimanickam said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.

He was replying to a question whether the government has made public the names of people, who have stashed black money in the Liechtenstein Bank.

According to the Supreme Court order, the minister said, the disclosure of information is subject to fulfilment of various conditions.

Replying to another question, he said that the Supreme Court had set up last month a Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising retired judges to take over the probe into all black money cases.

"The government has filed an application in the Supreme Court for modification of the order (July 4, 2011)...and for setting aside the directions given...regarding the setting up of SIT and the consequential orders in relation to this," Palanimanickam said.

Replying to yet another query, the minister said the Income Tax Department takes several punitive and deterrent steps to unearth unaccounted money and curb tax evasion.

However, he said there was "no reliable estimate about the extent of illicit money that flows out of India".

The government has commissioned a study to estimate the quantum of unaccounted income inside and outside the country and its ramifications on the national security.