Govt not trying to get names, says Advani

NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader LK Advani on Wednesday hit out at the government for not disclosing the names of Indians holding bank accounts in tax havens abroad and accused it of not making efforts to even get these details from countries willing to share them.

"The government gave a detailed statement yesterday and maintained that it does not want to hide anything but then it should also be said that it does not wish to reveal anything," he told reporters after hoisting the Tricolour at his residence here on the occasion of the Republic Day.

Advani claimed the government had not sought the list of accounts even after Germany had said that it has four more lists of such account holders. "Why is the government not revealing the names of these account holders to the Supreme Court," he asked.

On Tuesday, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had said the Centre may announce a tax amnesty scheme to bring back black money stashed in banks abroad.

At a press conference here on Tuesday, he said, by one estimate, anything between $450 billion and $1.5 trillion is in these accounts.

As the government faced criticism from the Supreme Court and Opposition parties over its reluctance to disclose names of Indians with foreign bank accounts, the finance minister addressed a press conference in the Capital on steps taken by the government to combat the menace of illicit funds generated both as a result of tax evasion and corruption.