On the request of the Central Government and persistent follow up in June, 2011, France has provided details of Indians having bank accounts in one of the banks of Switzerland under the provisions of Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC) between India and France. Based on this information, investigations have been undertaken by the different jurisdictional authorities under the Income Tax Act, 1961.

The information received is protected by the confidentiality clause of the said DTAC. The information can only be used for the tax purposes specified therein. 

This was stated by the Minister of State for Finance Shri S.S. Palanimanickam in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha .