Panama Papers: Govt told to reply on plea for CBI probe

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Centre on a plea seeking a CBI inquiry against Indian offshore bank account holders named in the Panama Papers.

A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Shiva Kirti Singh sought response from the Centre and the CBI on the petition filed by advocate M L Sharma.

The plea referred to some of the prominent names like film stars Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, businessmen including liquor baron Vijay Mallya, DLF owner K P Singh and 9 members of his family, and the promoters of Apollo Tyres and Indiabulls in the list of 500 Indians named in Panama Papers.

A Multi Agency Group (MAG) of various investigative agencies has been formed by the government to go into the disclosures made in the list.

The Papers contained an unprecedented amount of information, including more than 11 million documents covering 2,10,000 companies in 21 offshore jurisdictions. Each transaction spans different jurisdictions and may involve multiple entities and individuals.

Probe against SEBI chief

Sharma also sought a CBI probe against SEBI chairman, his associates, share brokers etc for offences including, under Prevention of Corruption Act and Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The petition said that Panama Papers include the names of nearly 500 Indians, including celebrities and industrialists, who have parked funds in offshore accounts in transactions brokered by the law firm.