The government can't reveal the names of those who have stashed money away in foreign banks because that would violate international secrecy laws, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee reiterated on Tuesday.
He met the media in the afternoon, and said the government had devised a five-point strategy to curb black money. "The government has nothing to hide," he said.
The Supreme Court had taken the government to task last week, saying it should be serious about bringing back money hidden abroad, because it constituted a plunder of the nation's wealth. An embarrassed government has since been trying to explain its point of view.
Mukherjee said India was bound by confidentiality, and the names of tax offenders would become public as and when the IT department investigated and filed cases against them.
Agreements between governments to avoid double taxation and share tax information will have to be amended if the government had to act differently, Mukherjee said. India has signed such agreements with 23 countries.
Indians have stashed away between 462 billion and 1.4 trillion dollars abroad, by Mukherjee's estimation. He hastened to add that the numbers were an "approximation."
Mukherjee said the government had submitted names of some offenders in a sealed cover to the court.
BJP leader Ravishankar Prasad dismissed the finance minister's statements as "delightfully vague." He said the government was not keen to disclose names because "people close to it may find their names there". Leverage the power of the economy to get the names.
He met the media in the afternoon, and said the government had devised a five-point strategy to curb black money. "The government has nothing to hide," he said.
The Supreme Court had taken the government to task last week, saying it should be serious about bringing back money hidden abroad, because it constituted a plunder of the nation's wealth. An embarrassed government has since been trying to explain its point of view.
Mukherjee said India was bound by confidentiality, and the names of tax offenders would become public as and when the IT department investigated and filed cases against them.
Agreements between governments to avoid double taxation and share tax information will have to be amended if the government had to act differently, Mukherjee said. India has signed such agreements with 23 countries.
Indians have stashed away between 462 billion and 1.4 trillion dollars abroad, by Mukherjee's estimation. He hastened to add that the numbers were an "approximation."
Mukherjee said the government had submitted names of some offenders in a sealed cover to the court.
BJP leader Ravishankar Prasad dismissed the finance minister's statements as "delightfully vague." He said the government was not keen to disclose names because "people close to it may find their names there". Leverage the power of the economy to get the names.
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