Centre has to hunt down the people with illegal money, says AAP

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday said the NDA Government at the Centre has to hunt down all people with illegal money in order to prove they are serious about the matter.

"The government is left with no scope but has to hunt down these people who have got illegal money in the bank accounts because the government has to prove they are really serious about it," AAP leader Ashutosh told ANI.

He also said the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party stands vindicated on the black money issue.

"It is one of the best ever expose done internationally. Arvind Kejriwal and his team stand vindicated because in 2011 he has exposed few of these names which appeared," he added.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had earlier in the day said that Special Investigation Team (SIT) is the most competent authority to take cognizance of the information over black money issue and that it would take the appropriate steps on the matter.

"I think the SIT is already investigated into the names which were present with the government earlier. The income tax departments are also investigating. SIT is the most competent authority to take cognizance of such information and will take appropriate step. The government had made its position on the issue of black money very clear," said party spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao.

According to reports, the government is expected to disclose the names of over 60 Indians and entities as part of its crackdown on black money accounts as reported in the HSBC bank's Geneva branch list.

Earlier in December, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) had submitted a report to the Supreme Court which revealed that persons on the HSBC list held Rs. 4,479 crores in Swiss banks.

In an official statement released by the SIT, it had said that out of 628 names on the HSBC list received from France, 201 are either non-residents or non-traceable, leaving 427 persons' cases as actionable cases.

The Supreme Court had directed the Centre to ensure that the ongoing probe on those suspected of stashing black money in bank accounts abroad is completed by March 2015.

Recovering the black money stashed abroad was also a prominent topic in the ruling BJP's election manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls.