Switzerland’s highest court has granted India administrative assistance in getting to the bottom of two accounts and the individuals linked to them, despite the documents being stolen. It is believed that this is a question of tax evasion. The Federal Tribunal has rejected their pleas by admitting India’s demands for assistance, according to Swiss news agency ATS.

The documents for which the assistance has been granted belong to the Panama Papers, where a former French-Italian employee of HSBC stole the documents before leaving the bank. The Swiss government admitted India’s request for assistance over and above any help India may have received from France bilaterally, ATS said.

The court action is significant. Those opposing Switzerland extending help to India have tried to build their case on the flimsy fact that stolen papers cannot be admitted as evidence in a court of law in the Alpine nation.  The Federal Tribunal said the penal procedure against Falciani has not established, if the French had paid to get the papers. Granting assistance to India and l’affaire Falciani are not linked, ATS said.