Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said every account named in the Panama Papers scandal was being investigated. But he clarified that India would not follow the example of Pakistan, where Nawaz Sharif was removed as the country’s prime minister last month, PTI reported.
“Nobody has ever taken more action than this government on foreign account details which have come,” Jaitley told the Rajya Sabha during a debate on Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, which was later passed by the House.
Hinting at Sharif’s ouster over the Panama papers leak issue, Jaitley said no Indian would be punished without following a proper procedure. “We have a rule of law,” he said. “We do not have system like the neighbouring country where you remove first and then have a trial.”
Jaitley said the government has been in constant touch with the authorities of the countries where people who were named in the leak have their accounts. When asked about the status of the investigations, Jaitley said prosecutions were being filed in the cases where documents have been received. “Assessment proceedings are being cleared, and there is no prohibition on publishing their names once the prosecutions are filed because they are filed in India in open court,” he added.
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