Probe group on Panama Papers holds first meeting

Amid a furore over 500 Indian names in leaked 'Panama list' of alleged offshore tax haven firms, the multi-agency group set up by the government to probe these cases held its first meeting on Thursday.

The probe group comprises officials from RBI, I-T Department, Financial Intelligence Unit and Foreign Tax and Tax Research. It has been set up to determine the legality of the transactions following the leaked documents of Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.

Thursday's meeting meeting was attended by officials of various agencies, including the CBDT (Central Board of Direct Taxes) Chairperson and the CBDT Member (Investigation).

Released by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) early this week, the Panama Papers contained names of nearly 500 Indians, including celebrities and industrialists, who allegedly had set up offshore entities in various tax havens.

"We are analysing each and every account to find which is legal and which is illegal... Those who are having legal accounts, they need not worry and those having illegal accounts won't get sleep at night," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said earlier on Thursday.