The Ministry of Finance has refused to divulge information on the amount of black money held by Indians inside the country and abroad, claiming that it will constitute breach of privilege of Parliament, PTI reported on Monday.
In response to a Right to Information query by a PTI correspondent, the ministry declined to share three reports published by the Delhi-based National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, the National Council of Applied Economic Research, and the Faridabad-based National Institute of Financial Management. The reports were commissioned by the previous United Progressive Alliance government in 2011.
The ministry, in its reply, said the government received the reports from the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy on December 30, 2013, from the National Council of Applied Economic Research on July 18, 2014, and from the National Institute of Financial Management on August 21, 2014. The reports were then submitted to the standing committee on finance on July 21 last year.
“Accordingly, the disclosure of information would cause a breach of privilege of the Parliament,” the ministry said in its reply. “Therefore, the information sought is exempt from disclosure under Section 8 (1) (c) of the RTI Act.”
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