SC acts fast to curb late deals by Panama Papers 500

Whatever be the provisions of the double taxation agreement, Panama Papers 500 cannot now get away with simple or compound fines to the Income-tax because the Supreme Court had acted in the matter and directed the Enforcement Directorate to go after the tax evaders and black money holders named in the papers and file first report by April 25. The Special Investigation Team of the Supreme Court gave the directive on Monday to the ED, Central Board of direct Taxes and the Department of Revenue Intelligence. The SIT comprising former judges of the Supreme Court, Justice MB Shah and Justice Arijit Pasayat, told the the three agencies to probe into the evaders who prima facie indulged in money laundering, tax evasion and tried to convert balck into white money. Their first task was to authenticate the facts and figures in the Panama Papers, whether the offshore firms were really set up and the nature of the trasactions they indulged in. The payments they made should be tallied with the IT returns filed by the violators. There appeared to be a concerted move by the so-called investigative Panama Papers, so far as India was concerned, to hold back the names of Indian defaulters so they get away with small fines in India and converting their black money into white. Now, with the Supreme court acting in the matter, they have little room to manoeuvre despite their shady deals to the last moment.