This refers to the report "Govt reveals names of 7 in black money list" (October 28). The disclosure of the remaining names of black money holders in foreign tax havens at one go is bound to shake the political establishment and corrode public confidence in the working of our political system. But the government can rest assured that India is resilient enough to absorb this impact.
What the surrogate government knows must be made known to the people who wield the supreme power, at least theoretically, in our democracy. If the reported donations to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress by Timblo Pvt Ltd are anything to go by, it becomes a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black.
How a recipient of unaccounted money can fight the scourge of tax-evaded money with its corrosive effect on our economy is simply incomprehensible. There is no merit in the government's point made in its review petition before the apex court that the "confidentiality clause in bilateral treaties" and the right to privacy offer legal impediments to the disclosure of all names since they are overwhelmingly overridden by "public interest".
The BJP cannot reveal the identities of all the black money holders because some of them may be close to it and the party cannot shy away from bringing the issue to a logical conclusion. The voters cannot be taken for a ride after the BJP's election promise of unearthing massive amounts of black money in overseas bank accounts - it's a Catch-22 situation. The disclosure of all the names may appear destabilising, but it will put an end to names being bandied about and eventually prove to be good for the economy.
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What the surrogate government knows must be made known to the people who wield the supreme power, at least theoretically, in our democracy. If the reported donations to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress by Timblo Pvt Ltd are anything to go by, it becomes a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black.
How a recipient of unaccounted money can fight the scourge of tax-evaded money with its corrosive effect on our economy is simply incomprehensible. There is no merit in the government's point made in its review petition before the apex court that the "confidentiality clause in bilateral treaties" and the right to privacy offer legal impediments to the disclosure of all names since they are overwhelmingly overridden by "public interest".
The BJP cannot reveal the identities of all the black money holders because some of them may be close to it and the party cannot shy away from bringing the issue to a logical conclusion. The voters cannot be taken for a ride after the BJP's election promise of unearthing massive amounts of black money in overseas bank accounts - it's a Catch-22 situation. The disclosure of all the names may appear destabilising, but it will put an end to names being bandied about and eventually prove to be good for the economy.
G David Milton Maruthancode
Letters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:
The Editor, Business Standard
Nehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg
New Delhi 110 002
Fax: (011) 23720201
E-mail: letters@bsmail.in
All letters must have a postal address and telephone number