HimVani
Shimla: Bharitya Janata Party national vice-president Shanta Kumar today demanded that accounts held by Indians in Swiss banks be made public and the black money be brought back. Addressing a press conference here, the former Union minister claimed that despite having sought information in the Rajya Sabha, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh failed to clarify to him his government’s position about the black money in Swiss banks.
In a letter written to the Prime Minister. Now Shanta Kumar has demanded that the Union government should act to bring back the black money by making public the account.
He said that now even the Switzerland government is assisting countries that want to know about bank accounts held by their citizens, whereas the Indian government is trying to keep itself away bearing that bank accounts Congress leaders who were involved in the Bofors scam might come to light. Kumar said that the Union government had accepted in an affidavit in the Supreme Court that it had procured a list of Swiss accounts on the condition that it would be kept confidential. He said that this indicated that the UPA government was sheltering corrupt element by accepting the conditions while getting the lists form Swiss authorities.
The BJP leader stated that Germany has successfully brought back its money kept in Swiss banks, while the US government is in process to claim its money. He said that about 140 nations have so far singed the Convention to make open black heavens, but India despite having ratified it 2005, is yet to show any interest in seeking information from Swiss banks.
