Swiss Leaks: Need Evidence to Take Legal Action, Says Jaitley

Commenting on the Swiss leaks' list consisting names of Indian businessmen, politicians and their family members having accounts in HSBC banks abroad, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley said the government needs evidence to initiate any legal action as many accounts can be legitimate.

"The details that have come out today (Monday) are the ones we already have... the question is not about names, but evidences that we need. Some new names have been revealed whose veracity would be checked by authorities," Hindustan Times quoted Jaitley as saying

The names on the Swiss leaks' list of 1,195 Indians include business tycoons Ambani brothers, Anil and Mukesh, founder chairman of Jet Airways Naresh Kumar Goyal and Dabur owners, the Burmans.

The politicians who have account in foreign banks include, Bal Thackeray's daughter-in-law Smita Thackeray, UPA minister Preneet Kaur and others. Some of the diamond traders of India have also been named in the list reported by The Indian Express, which partnered in a three-month-long global project with the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and the Paris-based Le Monde newspaper.

Earlier, the government had disclosed names of 627 foreign bank account holders, of whom, 60 will be facing legal action as the tax-evasion proceedings have begun.

The Income-Tax department has concluded the investigation, as directed by SIT, and has filed a prosecution complaints against the 60 Indians and entities. They in total have ₹1,500-1,600 crore stashed illegally in the foreign banks.