By IANS,
New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Monday termed the Surpreme Court decision to set up a special team to probe Indians’ black money in foreign tax havens as a “slap on the face of the government” while the Congress did not react to the decision.
“We welcome the Supreme Court decision to appoint an SIT (Special Investigation Team) on the black money issue. This decision has fully exposed the government and the Congress. The government does not want to take any tough and honest measures to check corruption and black money. This decision is a slap on the face of the government,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.
Welcoming the apex court’s appointment of SIT to look into the black money issue, he claimed the decision was a proof that even the court does not trust the government’s intentions on tackling corruption.
“We demand that the government should declare Indian black money abroad as a national asset and also bring a bill in the forthcoming monsoon session to deal with the problem,” Javadekar said.
He said the government should make public the list of those having black money.
The Congress did not react to the Supreme Court decision, saying it was a matter between the government and the court.
“We have not seen the copy of decision and it will not be appropriate to comment. We have full hope that the government will express its viewpoint in view of the decision,” party leader Shakeel Ahmed said.
An apex court bench of Justice B. Sudershan Reddy and Justice S.S. Nijjar repeatedly pulled up the central government for dragging its feet and delaying the investigation into the black money stashed abroad.
The court upgraded and converted the existing high-level committee, constituted by the central government, into SIT. It will be headed by former Supreme Court judge B.P. Jeevan Reddy.
The court also directed the central government to disclose the names of people holding accounts in LGT Bank in Liechtenstein — a principality in Europe bordering Switzerland and Austria — as disclosed to it by German authorities.