Panama Papers probe on, action as per law, says Arun Jaitley
Shubhajit Roy, August 11,2017
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said Thursday that every account named in the Panama Papers investigation is being probed and that nobody would be punished without a proper process. He tried to draw a comparison with Pakistan, where Nawaz Sharif was removed as prime minister following preliminary probe.
“Nobody has ever taken more action than this government on foreign account details which have come,” Jaitley said in Rajya Sabha while replying to a debate on the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill which was passed by the House later. Referring to the Panama Papers, the finance minister said, “We have a rule of law. We do not have a system like the neighbouring country where you remove first and then have a trial.”
During the reply, Jaitley said tax authorities are conducting investigations and prosecutions are being launched in cases where documents have been received. “We first make our own investigations and on each one of those cases, whether it is Liechtenstein cases or HSBC cases or other cases which have come to the notice or the Panama, in each case, we have been touch with the regular authorities of the country where these accounts are,” he said.
“Prosecutions are being filed wherever documents are coming. Assessment proceedings are being cleared and there is no prohibition on publishing their names once the prosecutions are filed because they are filed in India in open court,” the finance minister said. Jaitley said names are confidential as long as the matter is under investigation but the confidentiality clause ceases to exist once it reaches court.
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