Our Black Money Outflow

The special investigation team on black money appointed by the Supreme Court is reported to have asked the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) to verify whether US $505 billion had flown out of the country during the period 2004 to 2013. Apparently the instruction of the Supreme Court to the DRI comes on the heels of the US-based think tank Global Fince Integrity, stating in a report that India had the fourth-largest outflow of black money in the world with a whopping US $51 billion being siphoned out every year between 2004 and 2013. According to a Fince Ministry statement, “The SIT obtained detailed calculations of country-wise illicit fincial flows from Global Fincial Integrity. Details were sent to the DRI on February 8 with a request to “verify the extent to which the calculations are correct.” The SIT was of the view that since reports like the one of Global Fincial Integrity are frequently used in academic circles and for debates, it is “very crucial to ascertain the veracity of such reports.” This is a very significant observation and also leads to the important observation that this huge outflow of black money from India during the UPA regime despite the fact that the Congress is very inclined to throw stones from the glass house that it finds itself in. However, what the tion would like to know is how fast the present BJP-led government will crack down on the people behind this huge outflow of black money and thereby keep its promise of dealing with the black money mece with a heavy hand.