Randeep Surjewala Randeep Surjewala

On the day The Indian Express published the first set of names of Indians who figure in a global list of people with secret firms in tax havens, Congress demanded that the Panama Papers be handed over to Supreme Court, which is looking into the black money issue. It alleged that the BJP government’s decision to constitute a multi-agency group was a “shoddy attempt” to brush aside the issue.

CPM asked the government to take steps to prohibit use of tax havens. “The Modi government should immediately act because the report shows extensive use of these so-called tax havens for money laundering and for evasion of the tax regime in India,” Politburo member Brinda Karat told The Indian Express.

Congress communication department head Randeep Surjewala said PM Narendra Modi, in the run-up to Lok Sabha polls, had promised to bring back black money within a hundred days of government formation.

“The PM’s credibility is at stake today with the latest expose by a prominent newspaper group stating that there are 500 more such names… some of them relate to those who are the industrialist friends of the PM, those who are travel companions of the PM and those who have been brand ambassadors of PM Modi,” he said.

“While we have no axe to grind against any individual…we reject the constitution of a multi-departmental committee by the finance minister as a shoddy attempt to brush aside this revelation with regard to black money holders,” he said. He also wondered “whether the Modi government has something to hide”.

Party spokesperson Manish Tewari said whether these transactions are legal or illegal would have to be determined by a detailed scrutiny of each and every individual transaction.

“We hope that Supreme Court, which is seized of the matter, would task investigating agencies with going into the very details of the expose…to determine as to whether any laws have been violated and, if so, initiate action against the violator,” Tewari said.

Watch: What do the Panama Papers reveal

The party said the PM and his government will fulfil “the test of credibility that the country expects from them only when they refer the entire matter, including these 500 names, to the Supreme Court bench that is already examining the black money case, including the accounts of 1,600 names disclosed earlier”.

“And if there is a case of round tripping of money, if they have not disclosed this amount in I-T returns, whether they are corporate or individual, they will have to be punished in accordance with the law,” Tewari said.

“Supreme Court is the final adjudicator… It may choose to get it examined through the SIT. Why is the Modi government shying away? What are (Finance Minister Arun) Jaitley and Modi scared of? Why should they on one hand welcome it and on the other brush it aside by constituting a committee of multiple departments, the probe of which will never see the light of the day?” he asked.

Make black money details public: JD(U)

New Delhi: Janata Dal (United) president Sharad Yadav Monday asked the government to make public details of black money parked overseas.

“These people have looted the common man and the country,” said Yadav.

“I am shocked and pained at the way these people accumulated black money abroad when more than 35 per cent people are below the poverty line,” he added.

📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines

For all the latest India News, download Indian Express App.