NEW DELHI, Nov 3 - Rejecting HSBC whistleblower Herve Falciani�s accusation that Indian authorities are sitting on black money information, India today said he is raising a �wrong hue and cry� and asserted that details on illicit funds should be shared without any pre-condition.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley emphasised that the Government would �take action� on the illicit fund menace and said the Government offered a reward in exchange for information to Falciani.
The Chairman of the Special Investigation Team on black money, MB Shah, said that India is prepared to extend full cooperation to Falciani and other whistleblowers in its fight against the black money menace.
Shah said it was a �wrong information� that Falciani had put across to the journalists here yesterday that Indian authorities are not cooperating with him.
�He is not giving a reply. He has created a wrong hue and cry. We want to tell him that please give it (information) to SIT or to the Government or to a journalist. Please, you (Falciani) share it in the interest of the country,� Shah told this news agency.
A former HSBC bank employee turned whistleblower, Falciani, yesterday said a �lot of information� on illicit funds is lying unused by the Indian authorities, adding that he was willing to �cooperate� with the investigative agencies in their black money probe but would need �protection�.
He is facing charges in Switzerland of leaking details of bank account holders in Geneva branch of HSBC � a list which later reached French government and subsequently was shared with India as it had accounts of those Indians who had stashed funds abroad. � PTI
