Advani`s plan to bring back `illegal money` a `smokescreen`: Chidambaram

Sivaganga (Tamil Nadu), Apr 18 (PTI) Indian Home
Minister P Chidambaram Saturday described the prime
ministerial candidate of India's main opposition BJP, L K
Advani's 100-day plan to bring back illegal money stashed in
foreign tax havens as a "smokescreen" and wondered whether he
was "unwittingly" alerting those who have deposits outside.

In a hard hitting reaction to the BJP's Prime
Ministerial candidate's statement issued in Mumbai Friday, he
said "I am afraid that Mr Advani's 100-day plan looks to me
like a smokescreen.

"I wonder whether he is unwittingly alerting those who
have deposits abroad to re-arrange their affairs in the next
four weeks before a new government is sworn in.

He told PTI, "I am afraid Mr Advani is doing more harm
than good by repeatedly raising this issue, especially when he
has been informed about the efforts being made by the
government."

Chidambaram said that the government has made
"significant" progress in acquiring information from the
German Central Tax Office.

"I am not at liberty to disclose the progress made
because there are still some procedural formalities required
by the German Tax Office," he adding at appropriate time, he
was sure the Indian government would be able to release the
information that would be obtained from the German Tax Office.

Chidambaram said that Advani continued to "mystify"
the issues relating to capital flying out of the country.

He said no one denied that over the years some people
have illegally taken money out of the country and kept it in
banks and other places which were protected by strong laws
relating to bank secrecy.

The latest of Advani, he said, was the report of a
so-called high level task force.

"I am afraid the report of the Task Force is no more
than the rehashing of already known information to which they
have added some ingenious arithmetic. I do not think any
credibility can be attached to the numbers contained in the
report."

The actual number, Chidambaram said, may be higher or
may be lower. The real point was what has the government done
and can the government do to unearth these illegal deposits
abroad.

He said he would point out that in the six year period
of the NDA government, they did absolutely nothing. "I wonder
what Mr Advani was doing and his conscience was not aroused
when his government did absolutely nothing.

As far as UPA government was concerned, Chidambaram,
who was Finance Minister for over four years, said it had
taken a number of initiatives.

Firstly, he said as explained in his letter to Advani
on May 16 last year, government was already working with the
German Central Tax Office to procure the information relating
to deposits in LGT Bank in Liechtenstein.

Secondly, India is part of the consultative process in
the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD) where India has supported the OCED formulation that no
country should be permitted to decline to share information on
grounds of bank secrecy.

Thirdly, it was during the UPA government that they
had pushed India's membership in the financial action task
force, "where we are close to being admitted as a full
member". PTI