On Wednesday, Union Minister Arun Jaitely respond on black money debate in Rajya Sabha, Jaitely said the identities of 427 overseas account holders have been established and 250 of them had conceded to holding these accounts. He refuted opposition charges that the government was doing little to get back the illicit money stashed away by Indians abroad.
Replying to the debate on black money in the Rajya Sabha, Jaitley said the government wanted to follow the correct procedure in disclosing names. “The issue is not to disclose or not, but how and when to disclose the names,” he said.
He said this was because since the evidence of black money stashed away by Indians was outside the Indian shores, the government must get evidence first from other countries, using the various treaties that New Delhi entered into with them. “The names will become public,” Jaitley assured, when some opposition members demanded that the government reveal the identities of the perpetrators right away, since they were already being talked about in the media.
“Disclosure of names, without following the proper procedures, would only benefit the account holders,” he added. The opposition led by the Congress sought to tear into the government on the issue and asked it to “apologise” for making “false promise” of bringing black money back from foreign banks during discussion in both houses of parliament. The discussion could not be completed in the Lok Sabha.
