Black money controversy: Treaties with foreign nations "undermine" Parliament, judiciary, right to know

By Our Representative
Top Right to Information (RTI) activist Venkatesh Nayak has alleged that Government of India’s Double Tax Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs) with foreign countries “curb” independence of judiciary, undermine laws made by Parliament, and curtail the scope of the people’s right to know under the pretext of protecting the privacy of high net worth individuals (HNIs), firms and corporations who may be tax evaders. Objecting to the secrecy clause signed with over 100 countries since 1965, involving governments of all dispensations, Nayak said, the fact is, none of the DTAAs were ever ratified in Parliament.
In an analytical article mailed to Counterview on the controversial black money issue, currently rocking India, Nayak said, the bilateral secrecy clause – which has no parliamentary sanction – was also the reason why the Narendra Modi government has refused to reveal “all information and names of accountholders received from foreign countries cannot be disclosed unless there is evidence prima facie of wrongdoing for launching prosecution against tax evasion”.
The issue dates back to 2009, he said, when senior advocate Ram Jethmalani sought under the RTI Act, 2005 the names and details of persons who had allegedly stashed away money abroad. As the Government of India refused the request, Jethmalani and a few reputable citizens filed a writ petition in public interest under Article 32 of the Constitution, in the Supreme Court of India, demanding that these names be made public.
In July 2011 the Apex Court ruled that where investigation had been completed or was under progress, the names and details of such persons must be disclosed. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), in power in Delhi, refused, and a month before it was voted out of power, it handed over some information to the Supreme Court in a sealed cover.
With a change of guard at the Centre in May, the Modi government set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed two former Judges of the Supreme Court with the mandate to investigate all related matters and report to the Supreme Court -- but the secrecy clause has been again been invoked to refuse to reveal names, added Nayak, who is programme coordinator, Access to Information Programme, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, New Delhi.
Arguing against Union finance minister Arun Jaitley that secrecy clause under DTAAs are a Congress legacy, Nayak said, the agreement with Germany was concluded on June 19, 1995 and came into force on October 26, 1996 when the Congress under PV Narasimha Rao as Prime Minister and Dr Manmohan Singh as Finance Minister was in power. Then, during the six year BJP-led rule under AB Vajpayee, DTAA agreements were signed with 15 countries – Portugal, Czech Republic, Morocco, Trinidad and Tobago, Qatar, Ukraine, Kyrgystan, Jordan, Austria, Ireland, Slovenia, Sudan, Armenia, Hungary and Uganda.
“Over the last five decades, India has signed DTAAs with more than 100 ‘foreign tax jurisdictions’, starting with Greece, in 1965, under the then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and Finance Minister Morarji Desai”, Nayak said, adding, this makes all governments in power -- UPA, NDA, United Front “directly responsible for this curtailment of the scope of the people’s right to information which is a fundamental right implied in Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution”.
Nayak said, the situation went so far last year that the “audacity to supersede the authority of Parliament and the judiciary” was evident domestically in the thinking within the Department of Income Tax.” The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Manual on Exchange of Information (MoEOI) of 2013 said “the provisions of DTAAs override the domestic legislation” and therefore information under it should be “treated as confidential.”
This, Nayak said, is a violation of the “both Section 8(2) of the RTI Act and Section 138(2) of the Income Tax Act”, under which “any tax‐related information may be disclosed to any person in the public interest.” Saying that the guideline “simply ignores these clauses” and “seek to curtail the power of Parliament by declaring that international treaties are above the laws it has enacted such as the RTI Act and the Income Tax Act.”
---
Click HERE to download full article

Comments

Overriding India's constitutional sovereignty? Citizens urge PM to reject WHO IHR amendments

By A Representative A group of concerned Indian citizens, including medical professionals and activists, has sent an urgent appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to reject proposed amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) before the ratification deadline of July 19, 2025.

Designing the edge, erasing the river: Sabarmati Riverfront and the dissonance between ecology and planning

By Mansee Bal Bhargava, Parth Patel Across India, old black-and-white images of the Sabarmati River are often juxtaposed with vibrant photos of the modern Sabarmati Riverfront. This visual contrast is frequently showcased as a model of development, with the Sabarmati Riverfront serving as a blueprint for over a hundred proposed riverfront projects nationwide. These images are used to forge an implicit public consensus on a singular idea of development—shifting from a messy, evolving relationship between land and water to a rigid, one-time design intervention. The notion of regulating the unregulated has been deeply embedded into public consciousness—especially among city makers, planners, and designers. Urban rivers across India are undergoing a dramatic transformation, not only in terms of their land-water composition but in the very way we understand and define them. Here, we focus on one critical aspect of that transformation: the river’s edge.

FSSAI defies Supreme Court order on food warning labels, citing 'trade secrets' for withholding vital information

By A Representative India’s food regulator, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), is facing strong criticism for deliberately delaying the implementation of crucial warning labels on High Fat, Sugar, and Salt (HFSS) food products. This comes despite a clear Supreme Court order on April 9, 2025, which mandated the completion of the "entire exercise" within three months. Adding to the controversy, the FSSAI is reportedly hiding expert reports and over 14,000 public comments under the pretext of "trade secrets."

‘Act of war on agriculture’: Aruna Rodrigues slams GM crop expansion and regulatory apathy

By Rosamma Thomas* Expressing appreciation to the Union Agriculture Minister for inviting suggestions from farmers and concerned citizens on the sharp decline in cotton crop productivity, Aruna Rodrigues—lead petitioner in the Supreme Court case ongoing since 2005 that seeks a moratorium on genetically modified (GM) crops—wrote to Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on July 14, 2025, stating that conflicts of interest have infiltrated India’s regulatory system like a spreading cancer, including within the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR).

Ecological alarm over pumped storage projects in Western Ghats: Policy analyst writes to PM

By A Representative In a detailed letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, energy and climate policy analyst Shankar Sharma has raised grave concerns over the escalating approval and construction of Pumped Storage Projects (PSPs) across India’s ecologically fragile river valleys. He has warned that these projects, if pursued unchecked, could result in irreparable damage to the country’s riverine ecology, biodiversity hotspots, and forest wealth—particularly in the Western Ghats.

Civil rights coalition condemns alleged abduction of activist Samrat Singh by Delhi police

By A Representative The Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), a collective of civil and democratic rights organisations, has strongly condemned what it describes as the illegal abduction of psychologist and social activist Samrat Singh by a team of Delhi Police officials. The incident occurred on the evening of July 12, 2025, at Singh’s residence in Yamunanagar, Haryana.

Gurdial Singh Paharpuri: A lifetime of revolutionary contribution and unfulfilled aspirations

By Harsh Thakor* Gurdial Singh Paharpuri, a Central Committee member of the Communist Party Re-Organisation Centre of India (Marxist-Leninist) (CPRCI(ML)), passed away on July 2, marking a significant loss for the Indian Communist Revolutionary movement. For six decades, Singh championed the cause of revolution, leaving an enduring impact through his lifelong dedication to the global proletarian movement. His contributions are considered foundational, laying groundwork for future advancements in revolutionary thought. He is recognized as a key figure among Indian Communist revolutionary leaders who shaped the mass line, and his example is seen as a model for revolutionary communists to follow.

Historic Supreme Court ruling grants tribal women equal right to inherit property

By Raj Kumar Sinha* The Supreme Court of India has delivered a landmark judgment declaring that denying tribal women inheritance rights solely based on gender is unconstitutional. The court affirmed their equal right to ancestral property, stating that refusing a share in such property to a tribal woman or her legal heirs on the basis of sex is both unjust and unconstitutional.

A disconnect between data and daily life: India's inflation puzzle

By Hemantkumar Shah* In recent news, the government has announced that the inflation rate has reached a six-and-a-half-year low. According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation for June stood at just 2.1 percent, down from 2.82 percent in May. This is the lowest rate in 77 months, and the ministry even claims that food prices have fallen by 1.06 percent compared to last year.

Search This Blog