Political Science Project
Political Science Project
Political Science Project
LAW UNIVERSITY
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First & foremost, I take this opportunity to thank Dr. Avinash Samal, Faculty, Political
Science, HNLU, for allotting me this topic to work on. He has been very kind in providing
inputs for this work, by way of suggestions.
I would also like to thank my parents, dear colleagues and friends in the University, who
have helped me with ideas about this work. I would also like to thank all the authors,
writers, columnists and social thinkers whose ideas and works have been made use of in the
completion of this project. Last, but not the least I thank the University Administration for
equipping the University with such good library and I.T. facilities, without which, no doubt
this work would not have taken this shape in correct time.
2 | Page
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Contents
Introduction
Objectives
Research Methodology
1
2
3
4
5
Subject index
1.
5.
Recommendations
and
suggestions19
6. Conclusion
20
7. Bibliography
21
INTRODUCTION
3 | Page
The money that is earned and hoarded by dishonest and unfair means and kept in secret to
evade taxes is called black-money. It becomes black because no taxes are paid on it. No taxes
are paid on it because it is earned by dishonest and unfair means. Money turned to be black if
taxes due thereon are evaded. The massive amount of black money in our country has created
a parallel economy.
Continuing generation and accumulation of black money poses a grave threat to our economy
and is likely to threaten the very security and survival of the country. It is the source and at
the same times cause of graft, corruption and the debasing of social and moral values. There
are various factors responsible for the origin, existence and flourishing state of the parallel
economy of black money. It originates with the combination of money and power.
One of the sources of black money generation in developing countries like India is through
commission or kick backs obtained for arranging government deals and purchase. Foreign
multinationals and cartels make heavy pay off to supply their weapons, technology and
knowhow. Agents and middlemen pocket considerable sums as their share of commission in
the payoff to influence political decision. Other factors for generation of black money include
(i) high rates of taxation under direct taxes which encourages tax evasion, (ii) controls,
permits and licenses (iii) price control without adequate machinery for effective distribution
(iv) donations to political parties for elections (vi) corrupt business practices, (vii) smuggling
and other illegal anti-social activities.
In recent years black money generation has been growing at a very fast rate in our country. So
much so that it is difficult to isolate a single sector of economy or administration that moves
without the use of black money. Most economist are unanimous in their view that black
money generation has become a major factor for galloping inflation because it not only
misallocates resources, but also shifts them from investment to consumption. The National
Institute of Public Policy has roughly estimated the amount of black money in our economy
at around Rs 37,000 Crores. This is a little over one-fifth of the gross domestic product
(GDP). 1
OBJECTIVES
1. To understand the various facets and dimensions of black money.
2. To examine the the framework, policy options, and strategies that the Government of
India has been pursuing to tackle this issue, especially recent initiatives and
development.
3. To suggest various ways to overcome from the problem of black money.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The present study is based on Analytical and Descriptive research. It has focused on
qualitative methods of research. Secondary and published documented data has been
collected through various sources and analyzed accordingly. It is based on historical
research methodology along with case study method.
To make the study more meaningful and policy oriented, available literature and studies
have been consulted and reviewed apart from this field observations and open ended
discussion have also been equally considered and incorporated in the present study. The
filled in questionnaires were thoroughly scrutinized and processed in computer for drawing
out inferences, patterns, trends and conclusions.
Various documents have been collected through different websites, and different books
have been analyzed accordingly, so as to reach to a particular conclusion.
5 | Page
1.1. DEFINITIONS:
There is no uniform definition of black money in the literature or economic theory. In fact,
several terms with similar connotations have been in vogue, including unaccounted income,
black income, dirty money, black wealth, underground wealth, black economy,
parallel economy, shadow economy, and underground or unofficial economy. All these
terms usually refer to any income on which the taxes imposed by government or public
authorities have not been paid. Such wealth may consist of income generated from legitimate
activities or activities which are illegitimate per se, like smuggling, illicit trade in banned
substances, counterfeit currency, arms trafficking, terrorism, and corruption. For the purpose
6 | Page
of this document, black money can be defined as assets or resources that have neither been
reported to the public authorities at the time of their generation nor disclosed at any point of
time during their possession
This definition of black money is in consonance with the definition used by the National
Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP). In its 1985 report on Aspects of Black
Economy, the NIPFP defined black income as the aggregates of incomes which are taxable
but not reported to the tax authorities. Further, black incomes or unaccounted incomes are
the extent to which estimates of national income and output are biased downwards because
of deliberate, false reporting of incomes, output and transactions for reasons of tax evasion,
flouting of other economic controls and relative motive.
Thus, in addition to wealth earned through illegal means, the term black money would also
include legal income that is concealed from public authorities:
To evade payment of taxes (income tax, excise duty, sales tax, stamp duty, etc); > to
or
To evade compliance with other laws and administrative procedures.
7 | Page
administrative measures, and a very strong resolve to fight the menace. It also calls for
political consensus as well as patience and perseverance.
system. An article in the reputed newspaper The Hindu in 2010 revealed that unofficial
estimates indicate that Indians had over US$1456 billion in black money stored in Swiss
banks (approximately USD 1.4 trillion). While some news reports claimed that data provided
by the Swiss Banking Association Report (2006) showed India has more black money than
the rest of the world combined, a more recent report quoted the SBAs Head of International
Communications as saying that no such official Swiss Banking Association statistics exist.
Another report said that Indian-owned Swiss bank account assets are worth 13 times the
countrys national debt. These allegations have been denied by the Swiss Bankers
Association. James Nason of Swiss Bankers Association in an interview about alleged black
money from India holds that The (black money) figures were rapidly picked up in the Indian
media and in Indian opposition circles, and circulated as gospel truth. However, this story
was a complete fabrication. The Swiss Bankers Association never published such a report.
Anyone claiming to have such figures (for India) should be forced to identify their source and
explain the methodology used to produce them.
In a separate study by Global Financial Integrity concludes, Media reports circulating in
India that Indian nationals held around US$1.4 trillion in illicit external assets are widely off
the mark compared to the estimates found by their study. The report claims that the amounts
are significantly smaller, only about 1.5% of Indias GDP on average per annum basis,
between 19482008. This includes corruption, criminal activities bribery and kickbacks, ,
trade mispricing and efforts to shelter wealth by Indians from Indias tax authorities. According to a report, published in May 2012, Swiss National Bank estimates that the total
amount of deposits in all Swiss banks, at the end of 2010, by citizens of India were CHF 1.95
billion (INR 92.95 billion, US$ 2.1 billion). The Swiss Ministry of External Affairs has
confirmed these figures upon request for information by the Indian Ministry of External
Affairs. This amount is about 700 fold less than the alleged $1.4 trillion in some media
reports. The report also provided a comparison of the deposits held by Indians and by citizens
of other nations in Swiss banks. Total deposits held by citizens of India constitute only 0.13
per cent of the total bank deposits of citizens of all countries. Further, the share of Indians in
the total bank deposits of citizens of all countries in Swiss banks has reduced from 0.29 per
cent in 2006 to 0.13 per cent in 2010. In 2011, according to the data provided by Swiss Bank,
India is topping the list almost $1500 billion of its black money deposited with them,
followed by Russia $470 billion. The amount of black money is increasing day by day at very
rapid speed.
10 | P a g e
investment in our country is black money. One reason for people to invest in gold is that it is
hard to trace. People in black market may buy gold bars, coins, jewelleries etc because one
can buy gold easily and can be converted back to money anytime. This flow of underground
money has caused Indian economy to stall on its growth. It is estimated that if all the money
in the underground economy could be diverted to our main economy, our economy would
grow by more than thrice in no time.
6. Corruption-While corruption creates black money in the economy, it can also be a result
of the growing underground market. People with black money are able to bribe the administrators and politicians to get what they want. By doing this, they are able to get what they
want and others are pushed down the stack.
7. Inflated Real Estate When people with deep pockets are ready to pay more for a piece of
land, the price of surrounding land also tends to increase; thus artificially inflating the prices
of an entire area. Generally, people involved in black money market are always ready to pay
more for a piece of land as this helps in converting their colored money to legal money.
8. Transfer of Indian Funds Abroad to Safe HeavensThe black money generated in India
is kept in foreign tax havens. For this, money has to be transferred from India to other countries through secret channels. Under-invoicing of exports and over-invoicing of imports are
two of the main methods used by black money holders for transferring money overseas.
9. Encourages Anti-Social ActivityIt is no doubt that black money is a curse to any
country. Black money is always promoting anti-social activities in the society. Bribery, mentioned earlier, is only one example. The anti-social effects of black money include activities
like terrorism, a huge threat already to our country.
12 | P a g e
black money. So to control them is one of the greatest challenges before the society as well as
for the govt... Therefore, it requires all agencies of both central and state government to
actively make strategies to bring them to a halt.
2. Repatriation of black money stashed abroad:- I think it is the one of the biggest
challenge of our government of India to bring back money from abroad .However; it is a goal
that cannot be achieved by government action alone as it requires coordination and cooperation of other countries as well as authorities to achieve this. So, government needs to
evolve an environment & create legal mechanism through global consensus, co-ordination &
by making specific bilateral treaties.
3. Special Investigation Teams - In order to control and curb prevalence of black money in
India, govt. has makes a team which is known as Special Investigation Teams to investigate
on the issue of black money. So, at present in India, it works under the chairmanship of
retired SC Judge B. P. Jeevan Reddy. But its success depends upon the team members of
committee as it requires a significant effort to work on this issue. So, government must take
quick action in setting SITs, then potential black money holder will definitely reduce.
4. Less formation of Committees: The biggest challenges which are going to be faced by
Indian govt. to form fewer committees. i.e. Ministers in Indian Political System are just focus
on setting up new committees even for a very small issue in order to rot the issues i.e. our
politicians only know how to delay the process of action and thereafter, making lame excuses
rather than providing solutions for a problem i.e. Corruption and black money. So, we can say
that the Indian Government is just forming committees to make fool of the people of India
and not for the sake of the nation. So, its a very big challenge for our Government to
properly form committees and run them in a very efficient & effective manner.
5. To control corruption: one major reason behind the generation of black money is
corruption. It is perceived as one of the biggest challenges faced by our country which is
almost impossible to counter. As we study above all the factor that leads to generation of
black money are directly related to corruption. So to control black money .it is essential to
curb and control corruption which requires multipronged strategies with assigned the
responsibility to prevent it. For this the government has introduced the Public Procurement
Bill 2012 which intends to regulate public procurement by all Ministries and Central
Government Departments. This bill aims to ensure transparency, fair and equitable treatment
of bidders, promoting competition, and enhancing efficiency and economy in the public
13 | P a g e
procurement process. Therefore at last, I want to say that if govt. really wants to control
corruption, then there should be proper implementation of Public Procurement Bill 2012.
exempting tax op money spent on house construction, doing away with control policies, and
so forth. Isolated attempts may not yield much but a package of mutually reinforcing
measures, along with a strong political will and the commitment of political elite may prove
to be successful to a large extent.
In the wake of such dramatic transformation of the factors that lead to the generation of black
money and the globalized development that facilitates them, the Government of India has
resorted to a five-pronged strategy, which consists of the following:
1) Joining the Global cause against Black Money through the G20 - India has been a
strong proponent of transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes and has
pushed the G20 forum to exert pressures on countries that do not conform to the international
standards of transparency. It was on India's initiative in November 2010 at the Seoul Summit
that the G20 gave a call for concluding the TIEA. Prior to this, some countries were not
willing to enter into TIEAs and were insisting on entering into DTAAs. Both the DTAA as
well as TIEA are effective tax information exchange mechanisms. Since negotiation of a
DTAA takes time, which can delay development of the mechanism for effective exchange,
India has taken the plea that a country cannot refuse signing a TIEA if it has been requested
by other countries. It was again at India's initiative that this position was accepted and now
global consensus has emerged that a country cannot insist on a DTAA and must conclude a
TIEA if requested by other countries. After this development, many countries that were
earlier insisting on DTAAs, have now agreed to conclude TIEAs with India as well other
countries of the world.
India has also been raising the issue of automatic exchange of tax information, i.e. sharing of
information without a request, between countries. The DTAAs and TIEAs so far provide for
automatic exchange of information only on voluntary basis. India believes that automatic
exchange of information is essential for promoting voluntary compliance and achieving
transparency. The Indian Prime Minister and Finance Minister have repeatedly raised this
issue. Indian efforts have contributed to the Cannes declaration that encourages countries to
exchange information automatically. India is committed to working with other countries to
evolve global consensus on this issue in order to achieve complete transparency even with
respect to past banking information.
15 | P a g e
Prosecution Wing with such officers and staff as are necessary to carry out its functions. The
Lokpal shall inquire into allegations of corruption made in respect of the Prime Minister after
he has demitted office; a Minister of the union; a Member of Parliament; any Group 'A'
officer or equivalent; Chairperson or member or officer equivalent to Group 'A' in any body/
board/ corporation/ authority/ company/ society/ trust/ autonomous body established by an
Act of Parliament or wholly or partly financed or controlled by the central government; and
any director, manager, secretary or other officer of a society or association of persons or trust
wholly or partly financed or aided by the government or in receipt of any donations from the
public and whose annual income exceeds such amount as the central government may by
notification specify. However, organisations created for religious purposes and receiving
public donations shall be outside the purview of the Lokpal. The Lokpal shall not require
sanction or approval under Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 or Section
19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 in cases where prosecution is proposed. The
Lokpal shall also have powers to attach the property of corrupt public servants acquired
through corrupt means.
The Public Interest Disclosure and Protection to Persons Making the Disclosure Bill 2010,
(commonly known as the Whistleblowers' Bill) was passed by the Lok Sabha and is under
consideration of the Rajya Sabha. The Bill seeks to provide 'adequate protection to persons
reporting corruption or wilful misuse of discretion which causes demonstrable loss to the
government or commission of a criminal offence by a public servant'. While the measure sets
out the procedure to inquire into disclosures and provides adequate safeguards against
victimisation of the whistleblower, it also seeks to provide punishment for false or frivolous
complaints.
As announced by the Finance Minister in his Budget speech, enrolments into the Aadhaar
system have crossed 20 crore and the Aadhaar numbers generated up to date 14 crore.
Adequate funds have been allocated for completing another 40 crore enrolments starting from
1 April 2012. The Aadhaar platform will facilitate payments under the Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MG-NREGA); old age, widow and disability
pensions; and scholarships to be made directly into beneficiary accounts in selected areas.
This initiative will cut down corruption and the generation of black money in India.
18 | P a g e
After studying the concept of black money & its various sources of generation in our country,
its time for some Recommendations & Suggestions that may help to control black money in
India. These are as follows:
Our Government should make its foremost objective to control black money in our
country.
E-Governance should be started by the Government i.e. the use of technology be
made as far as possible like E-Registration with Revenue Authorities, E-Filing of
Returns, etc. because more the involvement of human beings, more is involvement of
corruption, ultimately generating Black Money
Black money revolves around in cash only so the Government should put restriction
on cash transactions wherever possible and instead should increase the use of Plastic
Money like Debit Cards, Credit Cards, etc. and by other such means.
Agriculture income should be taxed for those who have both the agricultural as well
as non-agricultural income.
19 | P a g e
The Government should not give absolute power of work to any one person as it
creates monopoly and instead should segregate the work among many persons.
CONCLUSION
Black money or the illegal money circulating in the parallel economy is a big menace for the
Indian economy. It is also an originator of big loss in the tax-revenues for the government of
India. Because of the existence of the black money in Indian economy, the per capita income
of the people has not been growing in line with the other advanced countries despite the
liberal measures taken by the government of India since early 1990s. Even after several
decades of economic planning and push in the right direction, India still continues in the same
state as an underdeveloped economy in terms of per capita income and the reason behind it is
the existence of black money. The elimination of black money from Indian economy is
needed and it will benefit the economy in more than one way. It will also help in creating
more revenues for the government
There is no doubt that existence of black money has a significant impact on social, economic
and political levels of our lives which has a significant effect on the institutions of
governance and conduct of public policy in the country.
So we cant say that India is a poor nation. Infact, India is
amongst the Richest Nations if Stashed Black Money is brought
back & converted to White Money and fresh generation of Black
Money is put to an end.
20 | P a g e
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books referred:
1. Company law and practice by A.K. Majumdar and Dr. G.K. Kapoor
Websites Referred:
1. http://www.preservearticles.com/201104085051/brief-note-on-the-appointment-andremoval-of-director-of-a-company-in-india.html
2. http://www.icsi.edu/Portals/0/APPOINTMENT%20AND
%20QUALIFICATIONS.pdf
21 | P a g e