The centre on Thursay assured the supreme court that it would reveal the names of persons, who have stashed black money in foreign banks after registering a formal case against them.

Solicitor general Gopal Subramanium, appearing before a bench headed by justice B Sudershan Reddy, said the government has issued show cause notices against the persons accused of having black money in foreign banks and once a case is registered against them, their names will be made public.

The bench also asked the government to ensure that Hasan Ali Khan, a Pune-based businessman, accused of stashing money in foreign banks, does not leave the country.

"It's your duty to ensure that he is available to face prosecution," the court said when Subramanium informed it that Hasan is in India and the government is taking all necessary steps against him.

The court was hearing a petition filed by noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani and some former bureaucrats seeking the court's direction to the government to bring black money, said to be the tune of 1 trillion US dollars, back to the country.

Senior advocate Anil Divan appearing for Jethmalani contended that the government is not taking effective steps in this direction.

Referring to an article in which it was reported that Letters Rogatory have been issued to authorities in five countries -- UAE, UK, USA, Singapore and Hong Kong -- seeking information regarding black money, he submitted that nothing more has been done in this regard.

Countering Divan's arguments, the solicitor general accepted that Letter Rogatory has been issued and said the government has taken "remarkable" steps in the case of black money.

Placing before the court a sealed envelope, Subramanium said all this information has been given in it.

At the end of the brief hearing, the bench asked whether Hasan Ali can be made a party to the proceedings before it.

The court then adjourned the matter for further hearing on March 3.

Related report:

Blackmoney: Now I-T officials to join OECD

After deciding to deploy revenue service officers at eight overseas Income Tax units, the government will now depute IRS officers to an international economic body OECD to enhance Indian capabilities in tackling money laundering, tax crimes and bribery.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee earlier this month approved the proposal for deputing the officials to Paris-headquartered body as advisors.

Indian tax officials will function in three broad areas of tax administration and tax crimes - exchange of tax crime information, transfer pricing and the global forum for transparency and exchange of information for tax matters.

According to the Finance Ministry sources, the government wants these officers to liaise with tax authorities of other countries and subsequently gain expertise to effectively tackle the issue of blackmoney and stashing of illegal funds in tax haven nations.

"The officers to be sent on deputation to the OECD for a maximum of three years will work on tax crimes and would support the task force on tax crimes which works towards improving cooperation between law and enforcement agencies, tackling money laundering and bribery," a source said.

According to the rules of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) - that are favourable to India''s position vis-a-vis fighting blackmoney - the body "advocates exchange of information between tax authorities on request in cases of specific tax enquiries to better equip tax authorities to tackle tax evasion under Article 26 of its DTAA."

The world body, established in 1961, also "provides a forum in which governments can work together to share experiences and seek solutions to common problems" and considers India to be an "emerging giant" in terms of economy.

The top economic cooperation body has 34 member nations which include the US, the UK, France, Germany, Canada, Italy and Switzerland. India too is vying for a place in the bod and according to sources, this could happen soon.

The I-T overseas units will come up in countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Cyprus, Germany, France, Japan and the United Arab Emirates.