Saturday, January 15, 2011

Priviliged information

What is holding back information on black money, asks court :
"The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre to consider revealing the names of those who have deposited their black money in the Liechtenstein Bank in Germany now that the German government had furnished the details.
Justice B. Sudershan Reddy, heading a Bench with Justice S.S. Nijjar, did not agree with Solicitor-General Gopal Subramaniam's submissions that being privileged information, it could not be disclosed. When the S-G said the government had got the details but did not want to reveal them, Justice Reddy asked him: “Why are you [Centre] reluctant to disclose the names. What is the difficulty in disclosing the information? What is the privilege you are claiming for not disclosing? Issues involved in this case are serious and of larger dimension. It is not only about tax avoidance but other issues are also involved.”
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Earlier, senior counsel Anil Divan, appearing for the petitioners, questioned the government taking shelter under the Double Tax Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) for not probing the money deposited with the Liechtenstein Bank. He contended that the DTAA did not apply to Indians having accounts in the foreign bank. He said the government was not serious about pursuing the issue, and despite the German authorities providing all the information, it had done nothing for the last two years."

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