New Delhi, Oct 22 : CPI(M) today demanded the issuance of a White Paper detailing the amounts of illegal money stashed away abroad and those involved, saying just naming some individuals would not serve any purpose.
Accusing the Narendra Modi government of “going back” on its poll promise of bringing back black money in foreign banks, senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said, “Now the government is saying that through affidavits, it would name some people. But naming some people has already been done in the past and that does not serve any purpose.”
All accounts held by Indians abroad would have to be examined “whether they are legal or illegal and, on that basis, a White Paper has to be prepared on the amount of black money that has been stashed abroad and by whom,” he said.
He was reacting to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that the government would inform the courts about names of some who hold black money in foreign accounts.
“This is what they had promised in the elections and are now going back on it,” the CPI(M) leader said, adding that the government was taking the earlier UPA-II government’s line that international agreements, including the double taxation avoidance treaty with Switzerland, would be breached.
“All through the election campaign, Modi and BJP have been continuously harping on the issue and accusing Congress of protecting those who stashed away huge amounts in various havens, majority of them in Swiss banks, and promising to unearth them. Now they are going back on it,” Yechury said. Terming as “toally unwarranted” Jaitley’s statement that the names to be given to the courts would embarrass Congress, CPI leader D Raja said the BJP government should come out with details of what steps it was taking to bring the money back.
“This unaccounted money illegally stashed away abroad genuinely belongs to the people. The government should show political will to bring it back and not try to score brownie points,” he said.
Whether the names would “embarrass Congress or BJP is not the issue. The issue is who all are in possession of black money. Come forward with the names, D.Raja said.