Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said the government has served notices to 17 persons related to the Swiss Banks black money trail, but it is not possible to reveal their names.
"We have received a few names and already served notices on 17 persons and prosecution has begun," he said.
He said the government cannot reveal the names of account holders who have stashed their money away in Swiss banks as the information can only be used for taxation purposes.
"The government, suo motu, cannot reveal the names because according to treaty we can only use the information for taxation purposes. We can only reveal the details in the open court when the matter comes up for hearing," Mukherjee said.
Names of 15 Indians who have stashed away wealth in offshore banks have been made public by Tehelka magazine in its latest issue.
Tehelka claimed it has in possession two more names, but were holding them back for verification. One name is alleged to be that of a prominent politician and the other chairman of a leading company.
The 15 names include Manoj Dhupalia, Rupla Dhupalia, Mohan Dhupalia, Hasmukh Gandhi, Chintan Gandhi, Dilip Mehta , Arun Mehta, Arun Koohar, Gunwanti Mehta, Rajnikant Mehta, Prabodh Mehta, Ashok Jaipuria, Raj Foundation, Urvasi Foundation and Ambunova Trust.
According to information with ET, a member of a promoter family of a reputed Chennai-based business group and some diamond traders also figure in the full list furnished by German authorities to the Indian government two years ago.
The German government purchased the data from an ex-employee of LGT Bank, the flagship bank of Liechtenstein , a country viewed by global banking groups as one of the major tax havens in the world.
Germany handed over the list on March 18, 2009, but the Government had refused to divulge the names as it had to honour the commitment given under tax treaties. Under provisions of the tax treaties, information exchanged is to be used only for the purpose for which it is sought.
Therefore, the government is not in a position to make these names public, but only recover tax on the unaccounted income.
The amount of money stashed away in Liechtenstein's is minor, compared to the size of the black money stashed in several other offshore banks.
As per an estimate by Tax Justice Network, an NGO, the volume of money lying in these banks could be over $11 trillion.
"We have received a few names and already served notices on 17 persons and prosecution has begun," he said.
He said the government cannot reveal the names of account holders who have stashed their money away in Swiss banks as the information can only be used for taxation purposes.
"The government, suo motu, cannot reveal the names because according to treaty we can only use the information for taxation purposes. We can only reveal the details in the open court when the matter comes up for hearing," Mukherjee said.
Names of 15 Indians who have stashed away wealth in offshore banks have been made public by Tehelka magazine in its latest issue.
Tehelka claimed it has in possession two more names, but were holding them back for verification. One name is alleged to be that of a prominent politician and the other chairman of a leading company.
The 15 names include Manoj Dhupalia, Rupla Dhupalia, Mohan Dhupalia, Hasmukh Gandhi, Chintan Gandhi, Dilip Mehta , Arun Mehta, Arun Koohar, Gunwanti Mehta, Rajnikant Mehta, Prabodh Mehta, Ashok Jaipuria, Raj Foundation, Urvasi Foundation and Ambunova Trust.
According to information with ET, a member of a promoter family of a reputed Chennai-based business group and some diamond traders also figure in the full list furnished by German authorities to the Indian government two years ago.
The German government purchased the data from an ex-employee of LGT Bank, the flagship bank of Liechtenstein , a country viewed by global banking groups as one of the major tax havens in the world.
Germany handed over the list on March 18, 2009, but the Government had refused to divulge the names as it had to honour the commitment given under tax treaties. Under provisions of the tax treaties, information exchanged is to be used only for the purpose for which it is sought.
Therefore, the government is not in a position to make these names public, but only recover tax on the unaccounted income.
The amount of money stashed away in Liechtenstein's is minor, compared to the size of the black money stashed in several other offshore banks.
As per an estimate by Tax Justice Network, an NGO, the volume of money lying in these banks could be over $11 trillion.
