Confiscate black money in Swiss accounts: CPI-M

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) on Friday slammed the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for its ?failure? in dealing with black money in Swiss bank accounts and said the amounts should be directly confiscated by the Centre.

?The laxity of the UPA-II Government in unearthing black money stashed in Swiss Bank accounts and other tax havens has been exposed by the recent observations of the Supreme Court,? said the CPI-M Polit Bureau on Friday.

?Unaccounted and ill-gotten wealth, amassed through tax evasion, money laundering and other illegal means, parked in these Swiss Bank accounts should be directly confiscated by the Union Government from the Swiss Banks. These monies should be brought back to India and the details of the account holders must be made public.?

?Any delay in undertaking these steps would be unacceptable,? said the Polit Bureau.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday made it clear at the Union Cabinet meeting that names of Indians with foreign bank accounts cannot be made public under international treaties.

The Cabinet, taking up the issue, noted that the government?s stand in the matter was drawing flak from all quarters, including the general public.

The Supreme Court had also sharply attacked the government for its refusal to make public the names of Indians with bank accounts in foreign countries.

The apex court had maintained that the money stashed away in foreign banks amounted to plunder of the nation?s wealth.

However, the prime minister pointed at the Cabinet meeting that the government was tied with the international agreements and any move to disclose the names provided by foreign countries would mean that other nations will not share such information with India later.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee also backed the prime minister.