New Delhi, Oct 28 (DHNS) : With names of a former Union minister and the son of another doing the rounds, the Income Tax (I-T) department was stated to be dispatching notices to some Congress leaders whose names featured in the list of those having foreign bank accounts.
According to officials, the names of former Union minister Preneet Kaur and a name similar to Maharashtra Congress leader Narayan Rane’s sons feature on the HSBC list of Indians with Swiss bank accounts.
Kaur said, “In keeping with my reply to the I-T department, I should like to state that I never had, and do not have any bank account overseas in my name with any foreign bank.”
However, Kaur, who is wife of former Punjab chief minister and now deputy leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Amarinder Singh, said she had responded to a I-T notice sent to her in 2011.
“In this regard, I can confirm receiving such a notice in 2011, and having replied to it wherein I have strongly denied any such allegations,” she said in a statement issued on Monday.
Though Kaur was first asked after the UPA government was handed a list of people with accounts at HSBC Bank's Swiss subsidiary, the I-T officials indicated that “adequate” action was not taken then and so fresh steps would be taken to get details.
Stung by criticism that his government was not doing enough to reveal names, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told TV channels last week that the Congress had reasons to worry about the list of Indians who allegedly hold illicit accounts at HSBC in Switzerland.
In retaliation, Jaitley’s predecessor, P Chidambaram, said, “Whatever name is there will embarrass the individual, not the party.”
On Monday, in response to the demand that all names be disclosed in one go, Jaitley said, “We will disclose only those names against whom we have prosecutable evidence.”
He spoke after the government disclosed before the Supreme Court three names, including that of Pradip Burman, one of Dabur India promoters, a bullion trader and a Goa miner against whom it has started prosecution for allegedly stashing black money in foreign banks.
The list has in all the names of 628 Indians who allegedly hold bank accounts in Switzerland. The names were provided to India by the French and German governments.
The BJP, which vowed during its campaign to bring back the money “within 100 days”, was flayed by the Congress last week after the government told the Supreme Court that tax treaties with other countries prohibit it from disclosing alleged offenders till charges are framed.
The Congress pointed out that when it was in power, it had made the same argument, only to be accused of inaction by the BJP.