Any investigative agency or government department that wants the top secret information related to tax evasion and black money from the income tax department (I-T) for a probe, would now have to give a signed undertaking as a guard against any possible information leakage. 

 
The central board of direct taxes (CBDT) has recently ordered the investigation wing of I-T and the newly created directorate of criminal investigation (DCI) to take a signed undertaking from the agency seeking information from them.

The move is to ensure that the person or agency can be made responsible and accountable towards the confidentiality of the information shared by us and prevent from any possible leakage, a senior I-T official said.

According to a source, in the third week of December 2011, when one of the investigative agencies approached I-T department for a data on tax evasion and money stashed by a few individuals abroad, the latter reportedly asked the agency to procure it from the court and expressed its inability to share the same directly.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee during a discussion in Parliament had reiterated that disclosure of any name or data related to stashing of money abroad would violate confidentiality and agreements made through treaties. The issue was also discussed in the recently held International Tax Dialogue Global Conference.