Need proof, not names: Arun Jaitley

New Delhi: The BJP-led government, that refused to make public the names of black money holders on the leaked list of HSBC Bank’s Swiss branch, faced flak from the Opposition on Monday after the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists released the names of the top 100 tax evaders.

The Centre had said naming the individuals would violate international treaties. The names that were released on Monday include top corporate leaders, diamond merchants and politicians.

There are 1,195 Indian names in the fresh HSBC list, with a total balance of $4.1 billion (Rs 25,420 crore) till 2007. This is nearly double the 628 names that had figured in an earlier list shared by France with India in 2011.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley said just having the names were of no use, unless accompanied by independent evidence. Mr Jaitley noted the tax authorities had launched 60 prosecutions from the earlier list of Indian account holders in a Swiss branch of HSBC, and that most names in the new list were known to the government. He said investigations would be taken up in all new cases expeditiously.