Expert lawyers to combat black money menace

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued fresh set of orders, to appoint counsels to effectively contest black money cases and file prosecution in a host of other tax evasion cases.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued fresh set of orders, to appoint counsels to effectively contest black money cases and file prosecution in a host of other tax evasion cases.

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"The aim is to have counsels on board having expertise in dealing with financial, economic and taxation issues apart from civil and criminal law to represent the department efficiently at lower courts, high courts, I-T Appellate Tribunal and commissions," a senior I-T official said.

According to the order, apart from conducting screening and aptitude tests for the existing junior and senior lawyers in the income tax (I-T) department, fresh counsels, who are expert in handling such cases will also be empanelled. The board will also monitor the performance of the counsels annually.

According to the sources, the I-T department has already filed more than 50 cases related to illegal assets stashed abroad for prosecution. "The Vodafone tax case is a case in point and keeping it in mind, the department has chalked out strategies to contest high-value cases," the official said.