Sena credits SC with divulging foreign bank account holders' names

Snubbing the Centre for revealing the identity of only a few foreign bank account holders in the first tranche with regard to the blackmoney issue, Shiv Sena today credited the Supreme Court with bringing out these names in public domain.

"Blackmoney was made a major issue during the Lok Sabha elections (of 2014). The government will not understand how difficult it is to bring back the blackmoney stashed abroad. The Centre has only revealed three names, but the credit for that will go only to the Supreme Court," the Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana.

The names of Dabur group promoter Pradip Burman, Rajkot-based bullion dealer Pankaj Chimanlal Lodhiya, Goa-based mining company Timblo Private Limited and its five directors figured in the affidavit filed in the apex court on Monday by the Centre as a part of its drive to unearth blackmoney abroad.

Describing the names revealed so far as only a 'tip of the iceberg', Sena said the real black money still lies hidden in foreign banks.

"Only three names were revealed by the government, which is nothing compared to the real loot. (Yoga guru) Baba Ramdev too had raked up this issue and said that about Rs 25 lakh crore is stashed abroad. But, if you add up the money of these three (names revealed so far), it is just Rs 100-200 crore," it further said.

The government may succeed in bringing back blackmoney from foreign nations in due course of time, but how would it arrest the flow of ill-gotten wealth within the country, the Sena asked.

"Whenever money from foreign countries has to come, it will come. But, there is a huge amount of blackmoney within India, which through mediums like the stock exchange gets into industries like real estate as white money."

"This money is nowhere to be seen on record, but is rusting away in the homes of the wealthy people. The issue of blackmoney is only raised during the election time. How does the government plan to stop the flow of this illicit money within India," the editorial said.