The agencies for which the data access could be requested include Enforcement Directorate (ED), Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), Reserve Bank of India and CBI, so that suspects in such cases can be probed from various angles and under provisions of criminal laws.
CBDT and Income Tax department obtain data from foreign nations and tax haven jurisdictions under Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs) or Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs).
Officials said that a full-fledged foreign exchange violation and money laundering probe in the LGT Bank accounts case has been slowed down due to restrictions on information-sharing between various agencies.
"The agencies only have access to a limited number of documents in the LGT case and hence the probe is not (progressing at the pace it) should. If the documents are available, prosecution can easily be started in these cases with regard to contraventions in the foreign exchange domain and possibly money laundering laws too," officials said.
India, at present has over 80 operational DTAAs and 40 TIEAs. The government had imposed a penalty of Rs 24.66 crore on 18 individuals who have bank accounts with Liechtenstein's LGT Bank on the basis of information provided by German authorities.
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