‘Government moving from black money to black mail’
25 Oct 2014 5:35 AM IST
Jaitley last week had said the Congress will confront ‘embarrassment’ because ‘a big name’ from the party is on the list of Indians who hold illicit foreign bank accounts.
Chidambaram on Friday told a news channel: ‘Whatever name is there will embarrass the individual, the party won’t be. These are individual transgressions.’ Soon after Jaitley’s announcement, Congress media department chairperson Ajay Maken warned the government against selective leaks to blackmail the opposition.
In April, when Chidambaram was finance minister, a list of Indians with bank accounts in Liechtenstein was given to the Supreme Court, but both the previous government and the new government say that the names must be kept confidential for now. ‘I did not ask to see nor was I shown the names. So whose name is there I don’t know,’ Chidambaram said in his first interview since the UPA lost power in May. There are reports that the ‘big name’ referred to by Jaitley was a minister in the government headed by Dr Manmohan Singh which lost power in the May election.
Reiterating the views expressed by his colleague Maken, Chidambaram said, ‘The purpose of Jaitley’s comment was to move from black money to black mail. The BJP’s position today is identical to the one we took, and legally it is the right position to take. They were wrong to criticise us
back then.’
The Supreme Court, based on a petition by noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani, has created a special committee to look at how to recover black money stashed in banks abroad.
Chidambaram on Friday told a news channel: ‘Whatever name is there will embarrass the individual, the party won’t be. These are individual transgressions.’ Soon after Jaitley’s announcement, Congress media department chairperson Ajay Maken warned the government against selective leaks to blackmail the opposition.
In April, when Chidambaram was finance minister, a list of Indians with bank accounts in Liechtenstein was given to the Supreme Court, but both the previous government and the new government say that the names must be kept confidential for now. ‘I did not ask to see nor was I shown the names. So whose name is there I don’t know,’ Chidambaram said in his first interview since the UPA lost power in May. There are reports that the ‘big name’ referred to by Jaitley was a minister in the government headed by Dr Manmohan Singh which lost power in the May election.
Reiterating the views expressed by his colleague Maken, Chidambaram said, ‘The purpose of Jaitley’s comment was to move from black money to black mail. The BJP’s position today is identical to the one we took, and legally it is the right position to take. They were wrong to criticise us
back then.’
The Supreme Court, based on a petition by noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani, has created a special committee to look at how to recover black money stashed in banks abroad.
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