WHILE hearing the PIL on black money, the Supreme Court of India today wondered how could DTAA apply to people who do not pay tax either in the countries where they do businesses or in their own countries. The Division Bench expressed surprise over the fact that the DTAA is applicable to people who stash away illicit funds in tax havens.

The counsel for Mr Ram Jethmalani, Mr Anil Divan, flayed the High Level Committee (HLC) set by the Union Govt to take steps to bring back the offshore funds into the country by terming it as a ruse to keep total control over all investigations. He argued that the setting up of an HLC was to pre-empt the formation of an 'independent high ranking monitoring group'.