'Info on black money abroad has led to penalties'

The govt has announced in Budget speech 2015 features of a comprehensive new law to be enacted specifically to deal with black money stashed abroad

Sustained efforts made to obtain information about black money stashed abroad by Indians have yielded results such as imposition of penalties and complaints in criminal courts, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said on Tuesday in a reply to the Rajya Sabha.

In another reply, he said: "The government has announced in the Budget speech 2015 features of a comprehensive new law to be enacted specifically to deal with black money stashed abroad."

There is no official estimation of amount of black money abroad, he added.

The government had commissioned a study on estimation of unaccounted income and wealth inside and outside the country, conducted by National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCEAR) and National Institute of Financial Management.

Sinha said the reports received from these three institutes are under examination of the government.

Asked as to when the money will be brought back, the minister said: "It is, however, not possible to state by which date the black money would be brought back."

The government had constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) in May 2014 to deal with issues related to black money abroad.

Sinha also said estimation of black money reported by various persons and institutions are based upon different sets of facts, data methods, assumptions leading to varying inferences.

"Such varying estimations/inferences can not be termed as misleading data against which a legal action can be taken," he said.