NEW DELHI (TIP): The Union government on Friday filed an application in the Supreme Court, saying it cannot disclose details of foreign accounts held by Indians which are governed by bilateral double taxation avoidance treaties. Petitioner and senior advocate Ram Jethmalani said this is an attempt by Narendra Modi government to shield those who stashed black money abroad. Jethmalani said such a plea could be made only by crooks who have illegally parked their ill-gotten money abroad and not by a democratically elected government. The apex court agreed to hear Centre’s application on October 28.

Outside the court, Jethmalani took a strong critical view of the finance minister and attorney general for making such an application to the court and said it could help only the criminals. Jethmalani told the court that he has written a letter to the Prime Minister on this issue conveying his strong views against the application and requesting the PM to take it as his last wishes. Switzerland agrees to help India As India steps up its pursuit of black money stashed abroad, Switzerland on Wednesday agreed to assist Indian authorities on a priority basis and provide requested banking information in a time-bound manner. The Swiss authorities would also “assist in obtaining confirmation on genuineness of bank documents on request by the Indian side and also swiftly provide information on requests related to non-banking information”.