After facing severe criticism for its decision on not revealing names in the black money probe, the Modi government has finally disclosed names of three secret account holders to the Supreme Court.
The government has filed an additional affidavit in the court ten days after it had filed an affidavit stating that it was not ready to disclose names of foreign account holders, claiming that it would violate double taxation avoidance agreements.
This decision by the Centre was heavily criticised as Prime Minister Narendra Modi had vowed to come down heavily on black money holders in his pre-election campaigns.
According to Times Now, Dabur group director Pradip Burman, bullion trader Pankaj Lodhiya, and Goa-based Timblo Pvt Ltd director Radha Timblo, who are under investigation for stashing black money abroad, are the Indians named on the first list.
More names are likely to be revealed as trial in the black money probe begins. Four individuals from Congress, including a former minister in the UPA government, are under scrutiny for holding illicit bank accounts in Switzerland, as per reports.
According to NDTV, the four Congress members include a former Member of Parliament from Uttar Pradesh, two members of a big political family in Maharashtra and a former minister of state.
The German government had provided details of Indians who have accounts in Liechtenstein Bank earlier this year under the double taxation avoidance agreement.
However, finance minister Arun Jaitley has maintained that revealing names until investigation was complete would violate bilateral treaty conditions.
