'Foolish to expect Indian black money in Swiss banks'

"I am quite sure that the money is not there in Swiss banks", the former Supreme Court judge said. "I am quite confident (about it) because there is no restraint on depositors to take the money away from there. I am sure they would have transferred it to other tax havens".

But he said that the government should get from Swiss authorities the names of Indians, who have kept their money there, which would be a "strong piece of evidence" against them in terms of contravention of Foreign Exchange Regulation Act and tax evasions. "That's an offence by itself.”

‘Bigwigs involved’

"The way they are dragging their feet (on the issue of black money) itself shows that big people are involved in stashing away slush money," he added.

He recalled that the Swiss government had disclosed in October 2008 itself that Swiss banks were holding $ 1,456 billion (overall global figure). "Now to say that it's still there...it's foolish", he said.