Chitra Subramaniam| |The News Minute|Geneva| July 20, 2014| 6.30 pm IST (Comment)For four Sundays in a row there have been stories in the Indian media about Swiss bank accounts. They speak of breakthroughs, lists of names and additional bank accounts. The News Minute (TNM) has been following this story closely in Bern, the country’s capital, including with the various ministries and departments concerned with international assistance in tax evasion and other economic fraud. Swiss officials are sworn to secrecy, but those that have spoken on the record have said there are no lists, names or additional bank accounts that have been made available to India. Most of them are silent on the process stating that it is for New Delhi, not Bern, to make any statements on the subject given the high profile nature of the work. This is where the Sunday specials kick in for two reasons. It is very possible that stories are shared with wire services for maximum coverage, but to date they bring no news and are always anonymous. Few weeks ago, one such late Sunday story said Switzerland had readied a list to be handed over to Indians. This turned out to be false and was denied by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The question that follows is – who benefits from the leaks, if that’s what it is and why is it that Sunday – generally a slow news day – is chosen to put out the stories? Retrieving black money is a big ticket item for the new government which has placed a high premium on it and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has announced that the task will be accomplished in 90 days. That is a tall claim, but coming from one of the most important ministers in the government, it is fair to hope that all factors must have been taken into account before the announcement. The obsession with names is also over-hyped. Not all Indian money in Swiss banks is illegal and not all illegal Indian business abroad is Swiss-based. If indeed there has been tangible progress with illegal bank accounts in Switzerland and the government is waiting to announce them, the Sunday series and anonymous sources is unhelpful.India’s credibility in bringing the guilty to book, especially the powerful and the rich, is one of the country’s best kept secrets. In the absence of tangible progress which the government is free to share with any media house or journalist, the Sunday specials are getting tedious. Worse, they serve no purpose.