Finance Ministry refuses to disclose reports on black money held by Indians, says Parliamentary panel is examining them

The finance ministry has declined to share copies of three reports on the quantum of black money held by Indians in India and abroad. NDTV reports that the three reports were submitted to the government four years ago, but the ministry said they were “being examined by a Parliamentary panel and disclosing details will cause a breach of privilege of the House”. The ministry said the information was exempt from disclosure under Section 8(1)(c) of the Right to Information Act.

NDTV says: “The UPA government had commissioned in 2011 the studies by the Delhi-based National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) and the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), and the National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM) in Faridabad.” The studies were to identify “important sectors of the economy in which unaccounted money was generated and examine the causes and conditions that resulted in the generation”.

According to Business Standard, when ordering the studies, the finance ministry had said: “The issue of black money has attracted a lot of public and media attention in the recent past. So far, there are no reliable estimates of black money generated and held within and outside the country,””

According to a response to an RTI query filed by a PTI correspondent, the reports had then been sent to the government on December 30, 2013, July 18, 2014, and August 21, 2014. The reports were submitted to the Parliamentary panel in July 2017.