The NDA government has promised to bring back black money stashed abroad to India.
The Narendra Modi government, which has promised to bring back untaxed or black money stashed abroad to India, has run up against a maze of clauses in international agreements that make it tough to "retrieve black money," a note from the Prime Minister's Office to the Finance Ministry admits.
This week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strong pitch at the G20 summit in Brisbane for an international effort to facilitate the retrieval of black money.
But the PMO note, which NDTV has accessed, admits that the current international convention against corruption, which was ratified by India in 2011, bars that retrieval. "Arrangements in place do not reveal any intention to retrieve black money," the note said, asking the Finance Ministry to give its comments.
The PMO points out that the information shared under the international pact can only be used for tax purposes and not for investigation or arrest and prosecution.
Also, it says the international convention cannot be applied with countries like Switzerland, with which India already has a bilateral protocol. India's new treaty with Switzerland on sharing of information on bank accounts came into effect in November 2011,
Switzerland is clear that information will not be shared retrospectively - that is, it will only share information that came after the agreement was signed.
The agreement with Switzerland, the note also says, bars India from information about money that has been acquired through illegal means. It only helps avoid taxing a person in both countries.
The Supreme Court has constituted a special investigative team to ensure black money stashed away abroad is brought back to the country. The ruling BJP had made the retrieval of black money a big campaign issue in the run up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.