Govt must bring back billions kept in Swiss banks: Jethmalani

TAKING A STAND: Ram Jethmalani addresses the media at the press club on Thursday

Mateen Hafeez I TNN

Mumbai: Former member of parliament and lawyer, Ram Jethmalani, on Thursday demanded the formation of a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the $1,500 billion belonging to Indians that is kept in Swiss banks.

Addressing a press conference in Mumbai, Jethmalani said that a Pune-based businessman has an account in a Swiss bank where he has kept $8.2 billion. “The income tax department has now demanded a tax of Rs 37,000 crore for this money. If a person is asked to pay a tax of Rs 37,000 crore, what do you think his income would be?’’ Jethmalani asked.

Without naming anyone, Jethmalani demanded that several politicians and businessmen have kept their money in Swiss banks which needs to be probed and find out how they earned this money. “We passed the Money Laundering Act in 2002. Soon after the 9/11 attack in the US, all governments decided to control money laundering. We did not bring the Act into effect till 2003. In 2007, an international company started assessing as to how various countries were handling money laundering and immediately, the Act was implemented. The firm found that the law in India was not in order,’’ pointed out Jethmalani.

The senior lawyer stated that when Swiss banks have told the government that they will provide all details about account holders in their banks if the government is probing a money laundering case, but still the government is not ready to make these names public. “From 2007 till date, there has been no communication between India and Swiss banks. If the $1,500 billion kept in Swiss banks is brought to India, every Indian family could be given Rs 2.5 lakh from it and India will have a tax-free budget for the next 30 years,’’ said Jethmalani, alleging that the government was not attempting to recover this money.

Jethmalani alleged that Hasan Ali, who was into horseracing and against whom a case of forgery has been registered by Mumbai police, was present in a meeting along with Congess leader Ahmed Patel where the appointment of Mumbai police chief Hasan Gafoor was being discussed. “What is Patel’s connection with Hasan Ali? Why were they supporting Hasan Gafoor as a police chief for Mumbai prior to the 26/11 terror attacks?’’ asked Jethmalani.

The Enforcement Directorate is probing a case of money laundering against Hasan Ali while the income tax department is probing another case of tax evasion.

The Times of India, April 16, 2010