Nawaz Sharif ouster: India rewards Panama Papers accused as rest of the world punishes them
Last year, journalists from The Indian Express, after going through millions of documents relating to the Panama Papers leak, released a list of Indians whose names had stood out.
These included well-known personalities such as Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, DLF owner KP Singh and Vinod Adani.
The Panama Papers were leaked in 2015 by an anonymous source, claiming he was tired of the unjust income inequality that exists in the world. The leaks had millions of documents detailing the involvement of high profile political and wealthy figures from all over the world, with the firm Mossack Fonseca based in Panama.
The firm allegedly provides services to establish off-shore companies in tax haven countries, at a high cost to people who want to evade taxes and hide large earnings.
The Indian Express also disclosed the involvement of the family members of Pakistan's third-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. This leak led to furious scathing investigations and trial against him and his family.
After a series of investigations and failure of the Sharif family to come up with a sound defence, a five-member Supreme Court bench on Friday announced that Sharif was not “honest” and that he therefore was “disqualified to be a member of the Parliament”. The court also ordered the opening of criminal investigations against the Sharif family.
This judgment fell like an irony against the state of the Panama Papers investigation in India, where in 2014 PM Narendra Modi had ascended to power with the promise of doing away with the culture of corruption that had plagued the last government.
Instead, the high profile personalities who were castigated for their names in the leaks are often seen socialising with those in power.
In contrast to Pakistan, one of the most prominent people whose name surfaced among the tax evaders in India was Amitabh Bachchan, and he has been hired by the Modi government to promote GST - a new taxation regime that is touted to create a uniform tax system in the country.
The Panama Papers leak resulted in worldwide uproar, leading to media investigations, arrests and legal actions. In France, former budget minister Jerome Cahuzac had to resign from his cabinet post when he was declared to be allegedly possessing undeclared assets in tax havens.
Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, Spain’s minister for industry, energy and tourism, the head of a state-owned bank in Austria and numerous others had to leave their posts after being named in the scandal.
Sadly, in India, not a single person has been charged till date. After a parliamentary uproar, the government was forced to officially start an investigation, and is currently probing 415 Indians whose names it has refused to disclose.
Since then, not much development has taken place. India, it seems, is following the example of China and Russia where the state has sanctioned the mention of the Panama Papers in the media, resulting in its dilution from public memory.
By not paying much heed to the ongoing investigation, the government is providing a safety net to the alleged culprits, some of whom are even associated with it.
In a county where millions of people are surviving on less than Rs 123 per day, such government protection to those who earn hundreds of crores every year is not only a moral hazard but a great dis-service to the nation and its people.