NEW DELHI, MAY 28: Taking his detractors by the horns, finance minister Yashwant Sinha vowed to expose the concerted campaign mounted by vested interests, "who are out to ruin the Indian economy", regarding the tax issue of Mauritius-based foreign institutional investors (FIIs).Denying the allegations levelled against him and his daughter-in-law, Sinha at a press conference on Sunday, stressed that "sinister design and malicious rumour mongering, of which I am the latest victim" needed to be nipped in the bud."Sinha said this while reacting to a story in a section of press which alleged that his daughter-in-law Puneeta Kumar Sinha, who is executive director and senior portfolio manager of CIBC Oppenheimer, had done "exceedingly well" because of the family connection. CIBC Oppenheimer manages Mauritius-based Indian Fund Inc, through its subsidiary Advantage Advisers.The minister issued these clarifications at the press meet before going to US to deliver a key-note address at a seminar on Indian economy and speak at road shows being organised at Chicago and San Francisco. He will be accompanied by secretary in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) N K Singh.The minister also said that his daughter-in-law, who is an IIT graduate and has degrees from prestigious institutes like Drexel University, Philadelphia and Wharton School of Business, Pennsylvania, "has been doing her job professionally and well before I became the finance minister." Sinha added, "even after I became finance minister she did her job and I did mine with the fullest integrity on the part of both of us."The minister stressed, "it can only be a mischievous mind, which can imagine that I have helped her in any way in her business dealings."Referring to Double Tax Avoidance Agreement between India and Mauritius, the minister said it had been in force since fiscal 1982-83. The treaty entitles Mauritius-based foreign institutional investors to make investments in India. As per the Mauritius Offshore Business Activities Act, 1992, it is possible for any investor to get itself registered in Mauritius and obtain a certificate of residence. "On our part," Sinha said, "we accept the certificate of residence issued by Mauritian government."The minister said as many as 136, out of the total of 525 FIIs operating in India, are from Mauritius. Sinha added the treaty has helped in securing foreign portfolio investment and there was no intention of reviewing it.The finance minister also denied the allegation that the treaty was resulting in massive loss of revenue to the government. He said, it was not much and added "the government decided to forego revenue to get investment in the country."Sinha said that he had replied to various questions on functioning of the Mauritius-based FIIs in Parliament but nobody ever sought to link the name of his daughter-in-law with such investments.He felt, "the success of Indian economy during the last 26 months under the leadership of prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has become an eyesore for some people." Having failed to stem the tide of economic by fair and democratic means, the minister added, "these people have decided to hit below the belt by launching a personal vilification campaign against me."He said, "they believe that by demoralizing me they will disturb the functioning of ministry of finance, destabilise the Indian economy and the reforms programme of the government."Replying to questions about those engineering such campaign, Sinha said, "I will not make an irresponsible statement at this time. However, I will try to get at the depth of the issue and surely expose them."
