Opposition slams govt for going slow on graft, black money

The Opposition attacked the government over the issue of black money and corruption while discussing the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment Bill) stating that there was no movement on appointment of Lokpal. Before the Bill was passed there was a fiery debate in the Rajya Sabha as the Congress accused the government of using the investigating agencies to target the Opposition.

Congress leader Anand Sharma said there cannot be four parallel registrations of cases by different agencies – CBI, ED, Income Tax – for the same offence? "Then, any person targeted, rightly or wrongly, will have to go before every agency. One would have to first go to the CBI Court and get interrogated, even if there is a false accusation. Many cases have been proved to be false," Sharma said. He added , "We have never seen this kind of abuse and misuse of power."

The BJP hit back, claiming these were unprecedented efforts towards curbing corruption and ensuring development which the Congress was unwilling to see.

BJP's Shwait Malik said that around Rs 70,000 crore which was stashed was brought back into the system due to the BJP government's efforts.