Indian Money in Swiss Banks: Can We Bring It Back ?

In the past few weeks a lot has been said, written, and talked about the Indian 'Black' money stashed in the Swiss banks. It has become one of the focal points of debate and a major election issue, especially after the leader of oppostion and BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate L.K. Advani raised it and vowed to bring the money back if he is elected as the Prime Minister.

A very good motive indeed---- because, if at all we are successful in bringing the black money back from the Swiss banks, it can be utilized for a plethora of development projects and can provide a big boom to the Indian economy. But, before we start building castles in the air, let's pull ourselves back a little bit and think --- Is Advani et al. really going to put serious efforts to get the money back or is it just another election issue raised in order to gain votes? The reason Advani's claim lacks authenticity is because, if he is so concerned about Indias growth and economy, then why was he waiting till the elections to raise this issue? Why did he not try to get the black money back when the NDA government was in power? Is it the case that Indians started dumping their black money after UPA came in power in 2004 or Mr. Advani came to know about the money laundering in Swiss Banks just before the 2009 elections -- hard or rather impossible to believe? Ok, he was not the Prime Minister or the Finance Minister, but he was the Deputy Prime Minister of India and also held a powerful & important place in the party. Not to mention, that Mr. Advani has made such futile claims & promises in the past to woo the voters and building the 'Ram Mandir' in Ayodhya was one of the many.

Better late than never, for a moment let's assume that Mr. Advani is really determined to bring the money back now. The big question is it really feasible for him to bring the money back from Swiss Banks --- may be, but the chances are very very miniscule. First off, is L.K. Advani the right person to take-up this matter - his knowledge or lack of it on the issue was visible from the fact that, upon being querried (by a leading Indian newspaper) on the amount of Indian holding in Swiss Banks, he quoted the figures from Wikipedia describing it as the "most credible" source of information. Nothing against wikipedia, but a matter of such serious nature deserves a lot more authentic & credible source.

Secondly, the reason why Advani and Co. are hopeful of getting the money back is because the US government was able to do so recently. But, the reason why UBS agreed to disclose the names & details of 250-300 US clients and pay $780 million is prominently because US was able to prove their tax fraud, and ofcorse due to some political pressure. But, that doesn't at all mean that the swiss banks will reveal the information of all their account holders, already declared by the Swiss President.

So, how will India manage to get co-operation from Swiss authorities? Upon being asked the same question by an Indian website, a member (Professor R. Vaidyanathan) of the 4-member committee formed by Mr. Advani to look into the issue responded, "It is not due to our pressure but that of the US which will make them co-operate." Is this the confidence the Mr. Advani and Co. has? It sounds so ridiculous that the people promising & claiming to bring the black money back don't even have the confidence of legally proving that the Indians with black money in swiss banks are invloved in tax evasion the way US did. Rather, they are relying on US pressure to get the names and money. It must be reminded to Advani et al. that promises made to the Indian Junta must be made on the basis you and your government's ability and not the ability of other countries.

Last but not the least, with the coalition government expected to form at the center and the prevailing loop-holed Indian justice system, it will be interesting to see how does Mr. Advani (if elected as the PM) go about getting the black money back, most of which may belong to his own party/alliance men, political friends, and fund donors.

-Kartavya Jain