Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chairman Sudhir Chandra on Wednesday faced an embarassing situation as at a seminar on black money he tried to avoid a direct question seeking more information about top tax evaders and Swiss bank account holders.

During the seminar, organised by former CBI director DR Karthikeyan's NGO Foundation for Peace, Harmony and Good Governance, Chandra made a presentation highlighting how he and his department had been working hard to rejuvenate the tax department’s “lackadaisical” state of functioning. It was then that former IPS officer and activist Kiran Bedi, who was also a speaker at the event, prodded Chandra to divulge the secret details about India’s black money which, she said, “the CBDT chairman in his official capacity must be having complete knowledge of”.

As Bedi persisted that he speak in detail about the issue, she was joined by members of civil society who asked Chandra to explain “the reality and behind the scene details” about Hasan Ali, who is accused of big-ticket tax evasion.

“We all know superficially what’s going on about the recovery of India’s black money. But you are someone who knows it all. Why don’t you tell us what’s happening in the Hasan Ali case," Bedi asked Chandra.

She took potshots at Chandra, who retires on May 31, and said, “Since you are occupying the post till the end of this month only and if you are not eyeing a post after your tenure why don’t you speak out your heart on the issue fearlessly?" While there was commotion for a few minutes with members of the audience insisting for a response from him, the CBDT head managed an uncomfortable smile and jotted down the array of questions.

However, he came up with only a one-line response, “the government of India is sensitive to the issues of tax evasion and black money.” Soon after, he left the venue.

Bedi also questioned Chandra’s assessment that CBDT was doing well and gearing up to face new challenges. “We still believe you are not going after big fishes and crocodiles,” she complained.

Earlier, during his speech, Chandra told the gathering that income tax department’s searches during his tenure have so far recovered Rs 18,500 crore. He also said that the department was tracking big fishes too as was evident from the average income recovered from the searches which stood at Rs 100 crore. He also underlined that the tax department was doing a 360-degree profiling of high net worth individuals (HNIs) who amass large amount of money on which they escape tax.

He also said that CBDT was in the process of creating a Directorate of Criminal Investigation after getting approval from finance minister Pranab Mukherjee last week.

Among others, Swami Agnivesh, vigilance commissioner R Srikumar, Law Commission chairman Justice P V Reddy, election commissiner V S Sampath, minorities commission head Wajahat Habibullah, veteran journalist BG Verghese and economist Arun Kumar addressed the day-long meet on combatting graft.