The Income Tax department has decided to begin prosecution action against those having "substantial" amounts in their bank accounts in HSBC's Geneva branch.
Top sources said a benchmark of about Rs 5 crore (Rs 50 million) is being mulled for initiating court proceedings against those Indians whose names have figured on the secret list of HSBC Geneva, supplied to India by the French government.
All others below the benchmark amount, the sources said, could be penalised under I-T laws and the amount can be realised from them by way of raising a comprehensive tax demand.
The sources said a number of individuals or entities who have figured in these accounts, also searched and probed by the I-T
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