Panama papers being probed

New Delhi : The government on Thursday said it would conduct a thorough probe into illegal shell companies set up by alleged Indian tax evaders as fresh skeletons tumbled out of the “Panama Papers” cupboard, linking India's glamorous mix of sports and entertainment to offshore tax havens.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said every bit of the expose that pointed toward offshore companies set up by more than 500 Indians will be probed and that people with illegal money stashed abroad "won't get to sleep" at night now.

"In last three days we have formed a group. We are analysing each and every account to find out what is legal and what is illegal," Jaitley said in an interview to ETV News Network. He was referring to the probe ordered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Those who are having legal accounts, they need not worry and those having illegal accounts won't get sleep at night," the finance minister said
"Those people who have kept it illegally, we will try to detect it fully. And I think that soon every thing will be made clear."

The warning comes as the media around the world has been carrying stories on people with offshore firms. The revelations are part of the expose by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and over 100 global media organisations, dubbed the "Panama Papers".

The expose is based on millions of leaked documents of a Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca, which helped in setting up these companies. The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) doubted if the Modi government was ready to "touch the structure of tax havens, money laundering and the generation of black money".

In an editorial in the CPI-M journal "People's Democracy", the party said the government "should impose a blanket prohibition on Indians acquiring shell companies and operating secret accounts in tax havens". The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ruling Delhi demanded Jaitley's resignation, saying one of those linked to the 'Panama Papers' was the BJP leader's friend Lokesh Sharma.

Sharma is managing director of sports management major Twenty First Century Media and has two companies of his own registered in the tax haven of British Virgin Islands. The third is a subsidiary of the sports company, according to the expose.

AAP leader Ashutosh said Jaitley should also reveal what kind of relations he had with Sharma. He said a free and fair probe into the 'Panama Papers' was doubtful as long as Jaitley was in the union cabinet.

‘Jaitley must recuse from probe’
The Congress demanded that Jaitley "recuse" himself from the 'Panama Papers' probe to ensure the multi-agency investigation was free and fair.
The opposition party also asked for a Supreme Court-monitored probe.

"We don't believe in the agencies of Arun Jaitley. The government has set up a multi-agency panel to investigate the matter but an independent probe is not possible. We, therefore, demand he recuse himself from any probe involving the 'Panama Papers' leaks," senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said here.

"How will the government conduct an independent probe in the Panama Papers leaks when the finance minister himself awarded a contract to Twenty First Century Media Private Limited as DDCA president (to construct VIP boxes at Ferozeshah Kotla here)," Ramesh said.

"Hence, we demand an independent probe which is possible only by a Supreme Court-monitored Special Investigation Team," he added. Ramesh said that as Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA) president, Jaitley had awarded a contract to the company run by Lokesh Sharma, whose name has surfaced in the 'Panama Papers'.

Mix of Bollywood, glamour, sports
A consortium that unsuccessfully bid for an Indian Premier League franchise -- which included actors Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Karisma Kapoor, industrialist Venugupal Dhoot's firms and Pune-based realtors Chordia family -- had investments by an offshore company.

Stating this in its latest "Panama Papers" expose, The Indian Express on Thursday reported that 10 members had entered into a pact to form P-Vision Sports to bid for IPL Pune franchise, in which 15 percent was earmarked for the offshore firm, Obdurate Ltd in British Virgin Islands. It was shut after failing to win the bid, the newspaper said.

In the sports consortium, the largest stake of 33 percent was held by the Chordia family, 4.5 percent each by Kareena and Karisma, 9 percent each by Saif and Mumbai resident Manoj S. Jain and 25 percent by Dhoot through two group companies. Obdurate was earmarked 15 percent.