Ram Jethmalani attacks government on black money

NEW DELHI: Noted jurist Ram Jethmalani today accused in the Supreme Court the NDA government and the previous UPA dispensation of failure to bring back black money stashed abroad and criticised leaders including Prime Minister, BJP President and Finance Minister on the issue.

"I am suspecting wrong (done) by both the sides and the fraud has been perpetuated by both the sides," he told a bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu during a hearing on a petition filed by him and others on the issue of black money.

Jethmalani did not spare Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his close aide and BJP President Amit Shah accusing them of failing on poll promise of bringing back the illegal money.

He said that this was "amply clear" from Shah's interview to a TV channel on February 5, 2015 when he stated that Modi's promise to bring back the black money during his election campaign in 2014 was a "political jumla (platitude)".

"There has been no retraction of this statement by Shah. There has been no retraction of this statement by the Department of Finance. There has been no retraction of this statement by the President.

"The presumption is that the two gentlemen, the party (BJP) President and the Prime Minister, are in concurrence with each other," he told the bench also comprising justices M B Lokur and A K Sikri before which the SIT placed its third report on the progress of investigations in the sealed cover.

"It shocks me, a person who is fighting black money since April, 2009, and I had referred to Modi as an 'avatar'," he said referring to the poll promise made by Modi.