Coming down heavily on the Centre for withholding information on Indians who have stashed huge blackmoney in foreign banks, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said the issue is not just limited to tax evasion but a ?mind boggling crime? amounting to ?theft? and ?plunder? of national wealth.
A Bench comprising justices B Sudershan Reddy and SS Nijjar said, ?It is a pure and simple theft of the national money. We are talking about mind-boggling crime. We are not on the niceties of various treaties.?
Clarifying that it was unhappy with the Centre?s approach on the issue, it said ?this is the problem which is worrying us. It is not only about tax evasion but has something more.?
?We are talking about huge money. That is the plunder of nation,? the Bench remarked while pointing out that the source of these money might be narcotics, terror fund or arms dealing. The Bench also expressed anguish over the fact that the affidavit, giving list of 26 names, filed in a sealed cover had been signed by a mere director level officer and not the finance secretary himself and said this reflected the ?seriousness? of the Centre. The Centre, however, refused to make public the names of Indian account holders. The court was hearing a petition filed by noted criminal lawyer Ram Jethmalani, who along with some retired bureaucrats and police officers, approached it seeking directions to the
Centre to take steps to bring back blackmoney to the tune of one trillion dollars stashed in foreign banks.