Prime Minister Modi made a strong case at G-20 session in Brisbane for retrieving black money stashed in foreign banks. Ultimately he succeeded in internationalizing the issue and eliciting proper commitment from developed and affluent countries of cooperating in enforcing transparency. Unofficial estimates of India’s illegal money stashed abroad range from USD 25 billion to over USD 4 trillion. While this speaks of abysmal lack of patriotic sentiment among the hoarders, it also raises question whether or not payment of income tax has been evaded by the defaulters. The essential question is that money stashed abroad has to be accounted for with the Income Tax Department. Retrieving these huge amounts of black money would means tremendous impetus to India’s developmental projects and social welfare especially in the areas of education, health care and security. Prime Minister also hinted that it was likely that black money could be used to fund terrorism that is challenging entire human society of contemporary times.
With strong intervention by the Prime Minister at the most important forum in Brisbane, he has also sent a signal to the opposition back home that had off late begun to vociferously criticize him of failing to make any forward move in retrieving black money. We know that the European countries in whose banks money has been stashed have their rules and regulations enjoining upon them not to make disclosures. This has made things complicated for our country to handle the issue to our interests. But with a firm commitment by the G-20 nations, we hope that now the path of getting this money back or at least laying hands on rightful tax amount will once for all help in checkmating clandestine ways of taking away money to foreign countries illegally.
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