mumbai swiss banks will hold back information on cash allegedly stashed there by punebased stud farm owner hasan ali khan on a technical ground swiss authorities refusal to part with the information is on the premise that the offence allegedly committed in indiain this case of not filing tax returnsis not an offence under swiss law swiss laws governing its banking sector stipulate that banks are bound to furnish details of an account to a foreign government only if the offence committed by the account holder is an offence under swiss laws too in this case not filing returns is an offence under indian tax laws while it is not an offence under the laws of switzerland however tax evasion is an offence in both the countries the incometax department in india has been told that it would not get any information on the 8 billion allegedly stashed away by hasan ali khan who is being investigated by the it department as well as the enforcement directorate ed the department sought the information through a letter rogatory essentially a request for legal assistance to switzerland a senior incometax official expressed surprise over choosing not filing of returns as the reason for initiating a letter rogatory to swiss authorities as its well known that not filing of returns is not an offence under swiss laws and therefore they are not bound to comply with the it departments request hasan ali highest tax defaulter this is the latest example of how banks in low tax regime countries use feeble technical reasons to blunt a foreign governments investigation into the accounts of unscrupulous elements who have stashed away huge amounts in violation of laws ever since the it authorities raided khans premises in 2007 it has been speculated that the money allegedly deposited by him in swiss banks belonged to politicians and industrialists and that khan was only a conduit who facilitated the transfer of the money from india apparently on a commission basis nonetheless khan has been declared as the highest tax defaulter in india with dues allegedly amounting to over rs 50000 crore the government replying to a query in rajya sabha in august last declared that the tax dues including interest for belated payments exceeded rs 70000 crore the enforcement directorate the agency under the finance ministry which exclusively deals with violations of foreign exchange regulations had issued a letter rogatory in 2007 the swiss authorities after examining the documents submitted to them had reportedly told the ed that the papers seized from hasan ali khans residence and premises were forged the enforcement authorities however did not pursue the matter