The Income Tax department is expected to file a complaint against HSBC bank, Geneva, for allegedly "abetting" tax evasion in India by way of unauthorisedly operating accounts of its citizens in its overseas branch.
Sources said the complaint against the global banking giant is expected to be filed under Section 278 of the I-T Act (abetment of false return) before March 31 as these accounts pertain to the time period of 2006-07 and would get "time barred" after that date.
The department, a senior I-T officer said, has taken upon itself to file these cases after informing the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money, which has reportedly given its go ahead.
"The evidence has been vetted at the senior-most level in the department and the CBDT. The prosecution complaint against the bank would seek punishment under tax laws," the sources said.
In the four cases, the I-T probe has recorded statements of the bank account holders who said they were "aided and helped" by the bank in not disclosing their cash movements and balances. These clients have also submitted some email communications exchanged in this regard.
The SIT has also widened its probe into these cases after revelations in this regard were made recently by ICIJ - a global collective of journalists.
The entire HSBC list features names of 1,668 Indians while the number of actionable cases stands at 1,195 after taking into account duplication and other factors.
In the list published recently, there are 2,699 accounts linked to 1,688 Indians. Of these, 1,403 accounts were opened between 1969 and 2006 while the maximum amount of money associated with a client connected to India was $876.3 million.
That list was also part of the larger 'HSBC list', which a former bank employee had "secreted away" and handed to the French government.
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