Black money: Former Union minister Preneet Kaur denies having a foreign bank account

PATIALA: Former Union minister and sitting Congress MLA from Patiala Urban, Preneet Kaur, on Monday denied having a bank account in a foreign bank. Though her name was not among the three names the central government submitted to the Supreme Court for having black money in foreign bank accounts, Kaur issued the clarification in reaction to reports that her name could appear in the future.

"I can confirm receiving such a notice in 2011, and having replied [to] it wherein I have strongly denied such allegations," said Kaur, who represented the Patiala Lok Sabha seat for three consecutive terms before losing this year. "In keeping with my reply to IT department, I would like to state that I have never had and do not have any bank account(s) overseas in my name with any foreign bank." Kaur said she had replied in the "negative" to all such queries in the past.

Similar allegations had been levelled against both Preneet and her husband, former Punjab chief minister and current Amritsar MP Amarinder Singh, by SAD and BJP leaders during the campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year. Both the complaints were disposed of by the district election officers of Patiala and Amritsar.