MUMBAI: The Union finance ministry is determined to defend the voluntary disclosure of income scheme - 1997 (VDIS-97) in the court of law. This was announced by the revenue secretary, NK Singh at a press conference held in Mumbai on Friday.

Singh was responding to a question on the writ petition filed in the Mumbai high court by the All India Federation of Tax Practitioners challenging the VDIS-97. He said he did not share the perception of the petitioners that the scheme encouraged dishonest tax evaders and was a fraud on the honest payers. "This is not the first scheme...there have been similar schemes in the last 20 years," he said.

Reiterating the government's point of view, Singh said, "This is the last opportunity for the tax evaders." He said the basic issue involved was that a large sum of wealth rested in the unproductive stream of system which is required to be brought into the main stream.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.