SAD rejects White Paper on black money in Parliament

CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Akali Dal today rejected the White Paper on black money tabled in Parliament, terming it as a white washing exercise by the Congress-led UPA government to conceal its "inaction" to punish the guilty of various scams.

"It is a matter of great regret that the White Paper has failed to outline any strategy by the UPA government to bring back 1456 billion $ stashed by the high and mighty of this regime in Swiss banks," Punjab's Deputy Chief Minister and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal said here.

He said the exercise was aimed at "distracting the attention of common masses from the multi lakh crore scams during the UPA regime".

Badal claimed the latest report on Swiss bank accounts suggested that illegal deposits of Indians rose three times from $ 500 billion to $ 1456 billion during the UPA regime "which could be termed as the most corrupt regime the world has ever witnessed".

Badal said the NDA, including the SAD, had been demanding attachment of illegal money stashed by corrupt Indians in the Swiss banks and utilisation of that money for development of the country.

"But, the Congress-led UPA government is dragging its feet on this critical issue affecting every Indian," he said.

"Despite Supreme Court strictures, the UPA is not making public the list of Swiss bank account holders leaked by a website," the SAD chief said in a statement here.

"The reluctance of the UPA to act firmly against corruption suggests collusion of the high and mighty in this whole racket," he said.

The UPA government today tabled the much-awaited white paper on black money in Parliament which did not disclose any names but made a strong case for setting up Lokpal and Lokayuktas to deal with the menace.