Black money case: Government submits list of 26 account holders in Lichtenstein bank in Germany to Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: The government on Tuesday submitted to the Supreme Court a list of 26 individuals who were account holders in Lichtenstein bank in Germany, in a move to assuage the feelings of the court which has been angry over the government’s slow response to sharing details of those holding black money abroad. The issue has become a political hot potato with the opposition BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi promising to ink pacts with other countries to force such disclosures.

Under the law, any such information can only be disclosed to a court or used in a criminal prosecution. However, a three-judge bench, led by Justice Dattu, had at the last hearing criticised the government for failing to abide by an earlier court order to share all information on its attempts to retrieve black money abroad.

Following that order, the government, through solicitor general Mohan Parasaran, submitted a list of 18 individuals who were facing prosecution regarding this after a probe. The list contains the name of former stock market operator Harshad Mehta. The names of other eight individuals were in the clear were handed over in a sealed cover to the court. The government said that it would not be inappropriate to disclose such information as no wrongdoing had been found.