What will happen when this Bill is passed?
A LokPal will be appointed at the centre. He will have an autonomous charge, say like the Election Commission of India. In each and every state, Lokayukta will be appointed. The job is to bring all alleged party to trial in case of corruptions within 1 year. Within 2 years, the guilty will be punished. Not like, Bofors scam or Bhopal Gas Tragedy case, that has been going for last 25 years without any resultThe ninth and final meeting of the Lokpal Bill drafting committee ended on Tuesday with both the Government and the civil society drafting two different versions of the citizen ombudsman bill.
While Team Anna and the government blamed each other for failing to arrive at a common blueprint for the anti-corruption legislation, there are nine different points they agreed to disagree on.
Should PM be under purview of Lokpal
Team Anna: YES
Govt: NO
Under the Jan Lokpal Act drafted by the civil society, the Lokpal shall maintain complete transparency in its functioning and shall ensure that full records of any investigation or inquiry conducted under this Act after its conclusion is made public by being put on a public web site. In its chapter VII, no investigation or prosecution shall be initiated without obtaining permission from a 7-Member Bench of the Lokpal against any of the following persons:
i) The Prime Minister and any other member of the Council of Ministers
ii) Any judge of the Supreme Court or any High Court
iii) Any Member of the Parliament
The government draft however says jurisdiction of the Lokpal Bill extends to any person who is or has been a union minister other than the Prime Minister.
Higher judiciary under purview of Lokpal
Team Anna: YES
Govt: NO
The chapter VII of the Lokpal Bill drafted by the civil society states:
No investigation or prosecution shall be initiated without obtaining permission from a 7-Member Bench of the Lokpal against any of the following persons:
ii) Any judge of the Supreme Court or any High Court
The government draft says the Lokpal shall investigate any person who is or has been a member of either House of Parliament, group A officer or equivalent of above who is serving or has served in the union.
Conduct of MPs in parliament included
Team Anna: YES
Govt: NO
The civil society draft states that an "Act of corruption" includes:
i) anything made punishable under Chapter IX of the Indian Penal Code or under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988; which would also include any offence committed by an elected member of a house of legislature even in respect of his speech or vote inside the house.
But the government draft provide that the Lokpal shall not inquire into matter involved in, or arising from or connected with any allegations of corruption against member of either house of Parliament in respect of anything said or vote given by him in Parliament.
CBI & CVC to be merged with Lokpal
Team Anna: YES
Govt: NO
The chapter XVIII of the civil society Lokpal Bill dealing with merger of anti-corruption branch of CBI into Lokpal states:
32. (1) The part of the Delhi Special Police Establishment, dealing with investigation and prosecution of offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, shall stand transferred, alongwith its employees, assets and liabilities to the Lokpal. The Central Government shall cease to have any control over the transferred part and its personnel.
Lokpal selection panel must have CAG, CEC
Team Anna: YES
Govt: NO
The chapter II of the civil draft states the Selection Committee shall consist of the following:
(vi) The Comptroller & Auditor General of India
Civil society wants all bureaucracy to be included
Team Anna: YES
Govt: NO
The government wants only the higher bureaucracy covered under the Lokpal Act.
Team Anna wants Lokpal in every state
Team Anna: YES
Govt: NO
While the government disagrees on establishing one or more complaints authority by the Lokpal in each state, the chapter VI of the civil society draft states:
In each State, one or more complaints authority would be established by the Lokpal to entertain any complaints against any officer or staff of the Lokpal.
Amendment of CRPC
Team Anna: NO
Govt: YES
The Chapter XVII of the civil society draft on applicability and modifications of the provisions of certain other acts states
29. (1) Section 19(1) and 19(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act shall be deleted. (2) Section 6A of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act shall not be applicable to the proceedings under this Act.
(3) Section 197 of Cr. PC shall not applicable to any proceedings under this Act. (4) The provisions of sections 105C to 105I of CrPC shall apply to offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act whether or not they are transnational in nature. (5) Section 389(3) of CrPC shall not apply to offences under Prevention of Corruption Act. (6) The right to file appeals under section 377 or 378 of CrPC shall be exercised by Lokpal. (7) Under section 372 of CrPC, the power to file an appeal shall be with the complainant as well.
(8) Notwithstanding anything contained in Section 397 of CrPC, no court shall ordinarily call for records in cases related to trial of offences in Prevention of Corruption Act during any trial by a special court.
Power to impose fine
Team Anna: YES
Govt: NO
Team Anna says grievance redressal officers should have power to impose fine but the government is against it. The civil society draft states:
It shall be the duty of the Grievance Redressal Officer to get the grievance redressed within a period of 30 days from the receipt of the complaint.
In the event of even the Grievance Redressal Officer not getting the grievance redressed within the specific period of 30 days a complaint could be made to the Lokpal.
The Lokpal after hearing the Grievance Redressal Officer would impose suitable penalty not exceeding Rs 500 for each day's delay but not exceeding Rs 50,000 to be recovered from the salaries of the Grievance Redressal Officer.
Apart from levying the penalty on the Grievance Redressal Officer, the Lokpal may also in suitable cases recommend to the appropriate authority to have departmental punishment imposed on the Grievance Redressal Officer.
with the govt.not accepting on majority of the points put forward by the ANNA team the whole exercise is a waste.
DIGVIJAY LOOKS LIKE BELONGS TO FAMILY OF BATMANS USED IN INFANTRY.
DIGVIJAY IS A TRUE BATMAN OF GANDHI FAMILY ESPECIALY RAHUL BABA THE KERNEL SAHAB.
Digvijay toh saala naujawaan hai na, jo ki niklaa hum pe raaj karne. Nikalo isko baahar. saala khaa pee ke kuch na kuch bakte rehta hai !
Is Anna Hazare asking for too much?
Should the prime minister come under the purview of the Lokpal Bill?
Yes, says Team Anna. No, says the government. That's one of the main reasons talks between the two broke down yesterday. The stand-off is also giving rise to another question: Is Anna Hazare asking for too much?
Hopes of a consensus faded when Team Anna said two separate drafts of the proposed law against corruption were likely. In any case, it would have been unrealistic to expect the talks to go on without any hitch. One side represents politicians, and the other civil society, and they are clashing interests. (Who's civil society? P Sainath offers some definitions in his article in The Hindu today).
With the government trying to dilute the law to a point where it just becomes another piece of paper, are we going to get a Jokepal Bill, as RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal quipped yesterday?
Many people are now suggesting that Anna Hazare, while being right in demanding that corruption be curbed, is being unreasonable in some ways. Sainath writes: "Pushing a coherent vision is a good thing to do. So is demanding that the government do its job. Beyond that lies trouble."
The agitators and the government are also speaking different languages, and not just metaphorically. When Baba Ramdev sent the government a letter in Hindi, Tehelka reports, not one of our cabinet ministers could read it. That should give us an idea of how distant the two groups are from one another.
As reports emerged that the negotiations had broken down, and that Anna Hazare would go on a hunger strike from August 16, Law Minister Veerappa Moily quickly tried to cover up the cracks, asserting that he would ensure only one draft was presented. Home Minister P Chidambaram even promised a draft of the bill by June 30. The government also warned Anna Hazare not to keep threatening it.
Meanwhile, voices sceptical about the agitation continue to pipe up. There was Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh, advising members of civil society to change their attitude to the process of law-making. No one will be surprised by Digvijay Singh's point of view, but even non-partisan observers like journalist Sainath aren't happy with the way Team Anna and Baba Ramdev have sought to lead the agitation against corruption. The award-winning author and journalist writes: "There is nothing wrong in having advisory groups. Not a thing wrong in governments consulting them and also listening to people, particularly those affected by its decisions. There is a problem when groups not constituted legally cross the line of demands, advice and rights-based, democratic agitation. When they seek to run the government and legislation — no matter how well-intentioned they are."
Anna has received support from an RSS ideologue. M G Vaidya writes in Open magazine: "The Lokpal has no authority to lay down policies in matters of defence or the national economy or foreign affairs. Who has ever doubted that that is the Government's prerogative? But if all was well with our hallowed Constitution, our sovereign Parliament and our powerful Government, why would there be Quattrocchis, Rajas, Kalmadis, Hasan Alis et al?"
So what do you think? Should Anna push hard in the face of a government trying to scuttle his agitation with some lame law-making? Or should he accommodate their point of view and let democratic institutions do their duty?
After all, we already have laws against corruption, and if the government had any intentions of implementing them, we wouldn't be here agitating for change. What guarantee do we have that another law will radically change things?
Yes, says Team Anna. No, says the government. That's one of the main reasons talks between the two broke down yesterday. The stand-off is also giving rise to another question: Is Anna Hazare asking for too much?
Hopes of a consensus faded when Team Anna said two separate drafts of the proposed law against corruption were likely. In any case, it would have been unrealistic to expect the talks to go on without any hitch. One side represents politicians, and the other civil society, and they are clashing interests. (Who's civil society? P Sainath offers some definitions in his article in The Hindu today).
With the government trying to dilute the law to a point where it just becomes another piece of paper, are we going to get a Jokepal Bill, as RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal quipped yesterday?
Many people are now suggesting that Anna Hazare, while being right in demanding that corruption be curbed, is being unreasonable in some ways. Sainath writes: "Pushing a coherent vision is a good thing to do. So is demanding that the government do its job. Beyond that lies trouble."
The agitators and the government are also speaking different languages, and not just metaphorically. When Baba Ramdev sent the government a letter in Hindi, Tehelka reports, not one of our cabinet ministers could read it. That should give us an idea of how distant the two groups are from one another.
As reports emerged that the negotiations had broken down, and that Anna Hazare would go on a hunger strike from August 16, Law Minister Veerappa Moily quickly tried to cover up the cracks, asserting that he would ensure only one draft was presented. Home Minister P Chidambaram even promised a draft of the bill by June 30. The government also warned Anna Hazare not to keep threatening it.
Meanwhile, voices sceptical about the agitation continue to pipe up. There was Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh, advising members of civil society to change their attitude to the process of law-making. No one will be surprised by Digvijay Singh's point of view, but even non-partisan observers like journalist Sainath aren't happy with the way Team Anna and Baba Ramdev have sought to lead the agitation against corruption. The award-winning author and journalist writes: "There is nothing wrong in having advisory groups. Not a thing wrong in governments consulting them and also listening to people, particularly those affected by its decisions. There is a problem when groups not constituted legally cross the line of demands, advice and rights-based, democratic agitation. When they seek to run the government and legislation — no matter how well-intentioned they are."
Anna has received support from an RSS ideologue. M G Vaidya writes in Open magazine: "The Lokpal has no authority to lay down policies in matters of defence or the national economy or foreign affairs. Who has ever doubted that that is the Government's prerogative? But if all was well with our hallowed Constitution, our sovereign Parliament and our powerful Government, why would there be Quattrocchis, Rajas, Kalmadis, Hasan Alis et al?"
So what do you think? Should Anna push hard in the face of a government trying to scuttle his agitation with some lame law-making? Or should he accommodate their point of view and let democratic institutions do their duty?
After all, we already have laws against corruption, and if the government had any intentions of implementing them, we wouldn't be here agitating for change. What guarantee do we have that another law will radically change things?
Anna is right to bring P.M. and C.J.under the preview of proposed Lok Pal Bill. He is sincere and committed to the cause. He has team of learned persons. He talks less and believe in delivering the things. Government is not sincere. Even the opposition leaders who at present is supporting just to fetch votes are afraid of bringing a solid Lok Pal Bill. Anna should start fasting not for indefinitely but for some days say a day or two. Simultaneously, his team should start signature campaign or letter to Prime Minister. His one voice will do and millions of letters in his support will pack the office of Prime Minister and can create world record and referendum against the ill wishes of the government. We will win because our cause is right.
Jai Hind
The problem with the ruling class of this country is their unbridled ego and authority they get for five years from the natives after spending hundreds of crore of rupees on tamashas,nautankies, 3 W's.How anybody scrutanise them without fear of transfer, murder, false cases or greed for 3 w''s.There is suppose to be President of India and Governer of the state who should act as watchdog and check elected government for its miss doings. But either they are made helpless and resign to enjoying comforts of their post or they are posted/elected for their support in the corrupt system
anna hazre is doing good and we all should support him. Agar hame government choose karne ka haak hai toh government ko public k liye kaam karna chahiye na ki apne liye, We all(majority) Indians want to crush corruption, then what is the problem, why government not accepting Lokpal bill, just because their minister wil b traped in this. Here opposition is also supporting first time the ruling government just because they also hav corrupt leaders with them. I SUPPORT ANNA HAZARE JI
Mr. Anna is fighting against own people. This is even more tougher than Gandhiji fighting against British. Sonia is mother of all corrupt politicians. That is the reason Most Corrupt people of country belongs to congressmen. BJP/RSS is not very behind. They are very opportunistics. they never agitated for corruption because this will attarct votes for themselves. Yes they can vouch from RAM MNADIR which is not going to provide us ROTI,KAPDA AUR MAKAN to AAM AADMAI. Digvijay,Sibbal,Chidambaram all should learn from NITISH KUMAR.
But Annaji,for this noble cause,Next generation onwards will worship as GOD if you become successful in implementing equitable LOKPAL Bill.
But Annaji,for this noble cause,Next generation onwards will worship as GOD if you become successful in implementing equitable LOKPAL Bill.
WHAT the hell it is going on Here....
now the country is going to be divided in two parts...
First who are supporting Mr. Anna n
Second who are supporting Govt...
People who are with Anna, I can understand their emotions
But, people supporting govt.... it is quite interesting to see their comments....
The biggest question is SHOULD PM COME UNDER THE LOKPAL BILLL.?
Here I think every Indian who has suffered corruption or had see corruption are with Anna...
The people who are supporting Govt... can't they see the situtation of country, can't they see the point where the PM is standing,,, can't they see how this govt.. pressurised an honest President like APJ Abdul Kalam.... to sign a bill which was only beneficial to the chair or post holder's ..... which was already rejected by Mr. Kalam... but this govt... pressurise him to do so.. this was accepted by Mr. kalam themselve...
So I think the mentality of the govt.... supporters is corrupt... they don't want to make country develop....
A major reason for their support may be the unemployment for those who are writing such comments here... in support of govt...
govt. is might be paying @ a rate of per comment Rs......./-
if it is so then..... carry on, n it is good to see the unemployment rate is declining on this issue....
i will not kick you....
Jai HInd.... keep writing....
Oh sorry it will be wrong to say jai HInd to you bcz you are not Indian..
now the country is going to be divided in two parts...
First who are supporting Mr. Anna n
Second who are supporting Govt...
People who are with Anna, I can understand their emotions
But, people supporting govt.... it is quite interesting to see their comments....
The biggest question is SHOULD PM COME UNDER THE LOKPAL BILLL.?
Here I think every Indian who has suffered corruption or had see corruption are with Anna...
The people who are supporting Govt... can't they see the situtation of country, can't they see the point where the PM is standing,,, can't they see how this govt.. pressurised an honest President like APJ Abdul Kalam.... to sign a bill which was only beneficial to the chair or post holder's ..... which was already rejected by Mr. Kalam... but this govt... pressurise him to do so.. this was accepted by Mr. kalam themselve...
So I think the mentality of the govt.... supporters is corrupt... they don't want to make country develop....
A major reason for their support may be the unemployment for those who are writing such comments here... in support of govt...
govt. is might be paying @ a rate of per comment Rs......./-
if it is so then..... carry on, n it is good to see the unemployment rate is declining on this issue....
i will not kick you....
Jai HInd.... keep writing....
Oh sorry it will be wrong to say jai HInd to you bcz you are not Indian..
Yes, Anna is on the right way. If these ministers dont have their accounts in other countries why they are afraid, " OR DO THEY REALLY NEED TIME TO TRANSFER THEIR AMOUNTS FROM SWIS BANK TO ANOTHER BANKS IN THE WORLD" but as per swiss banks guildlines it takes only 3 to 4 working days. Yes one more thing is important they all cant travell at the same time..so they need these much time i guess. Let the LOKPAl bill pass and let them come under these as well.And declare the list of people accounts from Swiss bank and if he or SHE cant prove put him in Jail..and make him eat that sambar...for 1 year..then they will tell u the details of that each rupee.
Huge Black Money Found in 98kg Gold, Rs.12 crore Cash found in Sathya Sai Baba Basted Chamber , Govt Deep Sleep ?
Show power on Normale man at Prashanti Nilayam in Puttaparthi of Anantapur district, a trust official said.
A day after the Sathya Sai Central Trust opened the locks of Yajur Mandir, trust member and Baba's nephew R.J. Ratnakar Friday evening announced details of the cash and valuables found inside.
He told reporters at Puttaparthi that they found Rs.11.56 crore, 98 kg gold and 307 kg silver. Ratnakar said the cash would be deposited with State Bank of India (SBI).
Some bank officials and about 15 disciples of Baba, in the presence of trust members, have since Thursday counted the cash and valued the gold jewellery.
Ratnakar, however, denied that they found any will of Baba. He also evaded queries if the trust found any documents about Baba's personal caregiver Satyajit. There are speculations that the spiritual guru wanted Satyajit to be a member of the powerful trust.
Pity that Anna Hazare and the likes have been agitating to get the Swiss bank funds to India , but little did they realize that there are bigger thieves like Sai baba who have stacked wealth worth crores in our own country.If he is really a Bhagwan why does he need so much of money and material ?I hope atleast 50% of his believers open their eyes and realize what he truly is.He is probably the richest magician but capable of doing only cheap tricks. Poor PC sorcars and Anands
It is surprise to hear that why Baghwan Satya Sai have not told his close associates to deposit the cash and gold in the safe deposit lockers and banking institutions and why did he kept in his personal room which clearly exposed he was not in normal health and conditions during his last
days and god only knows is there any one made use of amass wealth and cheated Baghwan
All these Ashrams are nothing but drug trafficking centres!! Most of the devotees are all drug addicted.These ashrams serve as covers for that kind of addictions. 50% of the money is from drug trafficking and they all are hand in gloves with the drug mafias.
Cheating Baba satya sai baba already cheats But beware of other baba's
we follows these type of dhongi baba's. this is a big sign of illiteracy in our country......if we stop following them, what will be the entity of these babas...??????
It is better to check all baba's including the Art Of Living and retrieve all that they cheated in the name of God who we neither have seen nor heard from Him. God is a concept .There is no scientific truth in it. A faith is God .
But these babas promise a direct flight to a heaven of good health and thereafter real heaven. No one till this day has neither visited nor heard of a place like that.Yet gullible people losing their common sense fall prey.In the meanwhile the black money of this country is entrusted to these babas for safe keeping.Chandraswami has paid 11 crores in penalty !! He was ex PM NarasimhaRao's guru!
Just raid all babas without any fear or favor ,recover all that money ,use them in building up the half done roads schools ,hospitals etc..
I am ready to go on an hunger strike to catch these babas and recover all that they have stashed away .It very naturally belongs to the country.
100 me se 99 beiman,kese hoga mera bharat mahan.hello everybody me hamesha sabhi se kahta hu emandar koun ? aur jawab bhi me hi deta hu ki jisko beiman banne ka mouka nahi mila vahi emendar baki sabhi .................................................................
ab to en babao ne bhi hamari sabhyata aur sanskriti ko lajana chaloo kar diya he.ye dag to kabhi saaf bhi nahi ho payenge.pratibha devi sing patil ek emandar president,sardar manmohansing emandar pm than .........................................................................
neta to branded lootere he lekin ye baba log baba ramdev,aasharam keshvanand kitane hi fraud log baba bankar es desh ko loot rahe he.kya hoga mere desh ka?
govt.sector.privet sector.jane anjane kai jagah hame beiman banna padta he lekin mere priy baba logo aap bhi.....................................
hindustan me yadi rahna ho beiman bankar jina hoga.
mero to girdhar rupayya dusro na koi.jai aasharam..jai ramdev..jai saty sai bhagwan...aapki sada hi jai ho...
we are the culprits, who follows these type of baba's....
Having uncovered a huge treasure from Sathya Sai Baba's abode, Govt. Of India should immediately order to seal Baba Ramdev's kingdom also before he transfers everything to some other place. Let the treasures dug out from Saibaba's place and that may be found from Ramdev's place be confisticated and deposited in national funds and used for developmental works or rural upliftment programmes. Whatever laws applicable to common men in such cases, be made applicable to those who are/were responsible for all thease unaccounted money.
It seems that gold and money are not corrupted, as Baba had a unique gift of taking out gold lingas and ornaments from his mouth. so he might daily have pucked out kgs together of gold while he was free in his ashram, so dear people dont worry about that money, it has come from the magical powers of baba,actually we people need not gift him money and gold if critically thought, because he had gifts of producing them magically aint it.
i think he has told some amount of those gold and money producing secrets to our PMs/Presidents/CMs/Tatas/Cricketers and elite class of the society. as we can visually see that in visuals.thats the reason most of his disciples were them and he was always surrounded by the elite class.
NO ONE CAN HELP INDIA. UNTIL HER PEOPLE THINK THEY NEED SOME ONE TO TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES (till that time many gods,babas will come ).
and that's what even politicians and elite class want .otherwise they cant survive in intelligent society
Hereafter the peoples are dont belive the saints. Dont belive any politician and god devotees in the world.u should believe the god only.u trust ur self positively that will come 100% positive result.
As long as blind belief exist this type of mad ambition to make money in any manner exists.It is good that even with this quantum of money,gold,silver etc, he could not convince Dr H Narasimhaiah, Kovoor and several thousands of scientific minded ordinary citizens whose voices are not listened in front of devotees who are ready to believe blindly what they see without analyzing facts.Even 10000 personalities like Baba's can not convince scientific minded people.
In india there r so many people live in under poverty only for the name sake they call them self as baba or god man,his he a real baba or fake one, what is he gng to do with so much of money, gold and silver which is found in his room does he have wife or childrens ,so every one should be awake in future of not following the fake babas,Saints always lead a simple life but things have changed now a days they live a very luxurious life
n a recent article and much more detailed interview conducted by Arnab Goswami of Times Now it was revealed that Wikileaks obtained Swiss Bank Data by Julian Assange has linked Accounts with Indian Nationality as the heaviest pursed amongst all other Nationalities on the leaks. With the extra tax revenue atleast some would trickle down to fund projects for the 645 million living in poverty. The government ought to be more aggressive in its approach to find out the account holders who all have atleast a requirement of having 1 million dollars by the Swiss Banks according to Assange.
While looking at the article I noticed the ad by google couldnt help but laughing atleast we can count on google ads to deliver relevant ads.
Wikileaks updates : http://mirror.wikileaks.info/
Times Of India Article : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Black-money-comes-mainly-from-I...
Black Money In Swiss Banks Mainly From India,
NEW DELHI: In an interview that could trigger a new controversy over Indian businessmen stashing black money in Swiss banks, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has said he had seen Indian names in a list of Swiss bank account holders and added that the data was going to be made public.
“Yes, there are Indian names in the data that we have already published or are going to publish. I can’t remember specifically whether there are Indian names in the coming publication. But I have read Indian names,” Assange told Times Now in an interview telecast on Tuesday. He, however, declined to reveal anything more on the issue at this stage.
In the course of the 50-minute interview, Assange appealed to Indians to “absolutely not lose hope” that names of those with secret Swiss accounts will come out in future. Hinting that WikiLeaks might work with specialized agencies before releasing the Swiss bank data he pulled up the Indian government for not being aggressive like Germany in going after the list of Indian account holders. “India should be more aggressive because India seems like it is losing per capita more tax money than Germany.”
Assange had earlier claimed that he was handed over documents of bank accounts by a former banker Rudolf Elmer and the whistleblower also claimed that the names in the documents came from “US, Britain, Germany, Austria and Asia — from all over,” and include “business people, politicians, people who have made their living in the arts and multinational conglomerates — from both sides of the Atlantic”.
Assange also dismissed the contention of the Indian government that accords on double taxation were coming in the way of tracking the trail of black money. “Double taxation does not have anything to do with asset hiding. It doesn’t simply cover asset hiding,” he said. Assange said that issue of stashing black money in foreign banks was worse than local corruption as when money is pushed offshore, “… everytime they are selling rupees and the result is that the currency of the nation is debased… everything for all Indians become expensive as a result of that transfer.”
Sourcs: timesofindia
He said Wikileaks will coordinate with specialised agencies before publishing the Swiss bank data.
Assange pulled up the Indian government for not acting tough on tax evaders. He told Times Now that India should be more aggressive as the country is losing per capita much more tax money than Germany.
Meanwhile, the central government announced it had set up a multi-disciplinary committee with top officers to probe the issue of black money parked in foreign tax havens.
The government had earlier declined to make public names of the people who have stashed black money in foreign banks, saying it is not possible to disclose information received from foreign governments under Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement. The Centre, however, agreed to reveal the names of six persons who had deposited money with the Liechtenstein Bank in Germany and who are being prosecuted by the government authorities.
The Finance Ministry says it has 'no authentic figures' about the quantum of money deposited in Swiss banks. Earlier, the Supreme Court had questioned the government's lackadaisical approach to the whole issue of black money
Meanwhile, the central government announced it had set up a multi-disciplinary committee with top officers to probe the issue of black money parked in foreign tax havens.
The Centre, however, agreed to reveal the names of six persons who had deposited money with the Liechtenstein Bank in Germany and who are being prosecuted by the government authorities.
Appearing before a bench headed by Justice B Sudershan Reddy, Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium said that the information received by the Centre from foreign banks and foreign governments cannot be disclosed as it is not allowed under DTAA.
"We have launched prosecution against some persons and there is no difficulty in disclosing their names. But as far as others are concerned their names cannot be disclosed until the prosecution begins," he said.
The court, however, was not satisfied and asked the government to explain on the next date of hearing as to which law bars it from making such information public.
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