Even after it expressed readiness to reveal the names of 627 account holders in the Geneva branch of HSBC Bank, the road ahead has to be traversed cautiously, in view of international covenants on information-sharing.
The government claimed that the first task it performed after assuming power on May 26 was to set up a special investigation team headed (SIT) by Justice M B Shah in compliance with the Supreme Court’s direction issued on July 4, 2011.
It, however, faced criticism for seeking modification of the court’s order, pleading confidentiality on disclosure of names.
The government raised questions over the court’s brief order of May 1, wherein directions were issued to disclose to black money case petitioner Ram Jethmalani the information or documents received in eight cases where no evasion of tax in India was found and investigations have been completed. With eight names becoming public, Germany has expressed surprise over the revelation, asking the government to explain the disclosure.
India refrained from signing the “Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information” at Berlin on October 29 as its confidentiality clause restricted disclosure of data.