The Congress Party on Wednesday criticized the Centre over the black money bill, saying it was an attempt by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to divert attention from its unfulfilled election promises.
The Congress Party on Wednesday criticized the Centre over the black money bill, saying it was an attempt by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to divert attention from its unfulfilled election promises.
Congress leader P.C. Chacko said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had during his election campaigns made tall promises of unearthing black money stashed abroad.
"This shows that they have not done their homework properly before the elections. If ahead of the elections they made an estimate about the black money, where did they get that estimate from? Now, they are only taking steps to bring a legislation by which they can bring in the black money. This shows that these are all bravado or excuses for their not doing things which they have promised," he added.
Senior advocate Ram Jethmalani, who drafted the legislation, expressed his displeasure at the Centre's move to act very late on it.
"I made this bill and sent it to them in November and they are still working on it till March. I am very dissatisfied with them and I am very angry at them but I don't say much because I still have respect for Prime Minister Modi," said Jethmalani.
He also added that without him the BJP could not bring back a single penny.
Meanwhile, Union Minister for Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari lauded the bill and added that Prime Minister Modi has fulfilled his promise of bringing back the illegal wealth stashed abroad.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it a number of times that the government is committed to bring back the black money. He has fulfilled his promise," Gadkari said.
"Our government has taken the right initiative for the first time in the history of the country to bring back the black money that is stashed abroad," he added.
Gadkari also said that the money would be used for the nation's development.
"I would like to thank the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for the role that he has played and his proposal. Money that will come back will be used for the development of the nation and add to the nation's capital," he added.
The Union Cabinet had earlier on Tuesday cleared the black money bill, which proposes to provide powers to tax authorities to deal with illegal wealth stashed abroad.
The bill is likely to be introduced in the current session of Parliament. Under the provisions of the new bill, the offence will be non-compoundable and the offenders will not be permitted to approach the Settlement Commission.
The bill also proposed the penalty at the rate of 300 per cent of taxes to be levied on the concealed income and assets, in addition to 10 years rigorous imprisonment.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had in his budget speech said the government will come out with a new law to effectively deal with the black money stashed abroad as well as generation of black money in the country.
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