Pranab says Black Money Stashed away in Switzerland cannot be brought back

New India-Swiss pact not to recover black money: Pranab Mukherjee
IANS, Aug 31, 2010, 01.53pm IST

NEW DELHI: Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday clarified that the revised double taxation avoidance agreement India signed with Switzerland will not help the country in getting back the black money stashed away by Indians in secret Swiss bank accounts.

"I would like to make it quite clear that as far as Swiss laws are concerned they don't give any information of their banking transactions," Mukherjee said in the Lok Sabha.

The agreement, inked here Monday by Mukherjee and Swiss foreign minister Micheline Calmy-Rey, allows exchange of information in accordance with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) standards which were negotiated in line with the parameters decided by the Swiss Federal Council, the Swiss Federal Department of Finance.

"We cannot share this information to any other authority, including parliament. This information cannot even be shared with the Enforcement Directorate," the finance minister said.

He was replying to questions by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader LK Advani and Communist Party of India (CPI's) Gurudas Dasgupta whether the agreement would enable India to get the black money stashed in foreign banks.

The issue of Indians having secret Swiss bank accounts was a poll plank during last year's general elections. Indians are alleged to have assets worth billions of dollars in banks in Switzerland.

Mukherjee said it was an agreement between two "sovereign" countries and Switzerland "is in no way subordinate to us".

He said the agreement will help India access the information on unaccounted money for taxation purposes only.

"The new provision will be applicable only for prospective information and not for past information," Mukherjee added.

The Paris-based OECD sets the international tax standards. Switzerland has entered into revised tax pacts with many countries in accordance with OECD's Model Tax Convention to facilitate bilateral exchange of information related to bank account details of tax evaders.

What Pranab says is nothing new.
I had expected this plea from the government.
You don't expect the highly secretive Swiss to divulge their secrets unless it is squeezed out from them like the USA did.
We too will have to use their weak points like their banks or companies like Nestle who are doing roaring business in India to bring them to their knees.
That is if we are actually interested in getting back the stashed money, which I doubt very much for most of the money belong to congressmen and their cronies.
After all it is the Congress which has ruled India for most of the 60 years since independence.