Author: Editorial
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: May 6, 2009
http://www.dailypioneer.com/174290/UPA-is-shamed-again.html
SC demands action on Swiss accounts
Day after day, the UPA Government's cussed
unwillingness to go after those Indians who hold illegal bank accounts in
Switzerland and other secret banking havens becomes embarrassingly apparent.
A petition moved before the Supreme Court has become the latest touchstone.
Moved by prominent citizens, the petition sought to know what the Government
was doing to unearth and redeem this black money, much of it is suspected
to be receipts from bribes and kickbacks and, to some degree, corporate embezzlement.
Instead of responding, Government lawyers painted the petitioners as 'political
agents' and argued they were only echoing the BJP's position. On Monday, May
4, a bench headed by the Chief Justice of India rejected this position, defended
the right of the petitioners to make their point and asked the Government
to focus on the substance of the issue, not on personalities. In the case
of the notorious Pune-based middleman Hasan Ali -and his wife and associate
- the court asked the Government hard questions. Ali has millions in concealed
bank accounts in Switzerland. However, the Government is prosecuting him only
for tax evasion and possession of fake passports. This was a patent case for
charges under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Action under the PMLA
would have made it obligatory for the Swiss banking authorities to cooperate
and reveal details of Khan's transactions. The Supreme Court expressed surprise
that the Government had not acted correctly and has now given direction for
the criminal investigation of the Pune-based fixer under this more stringent
law. It has asked the Government to get back to it by July 20, by which time,
of course, the UPA Government would have gone. Its primary task of protecting
Ali and his political sponsors - among them senior UPA politicians, for whom
he is suspected to have handled money - would have been served. If the new
Government acts decisively, it will no doubt be accused, by an anguished Congress
leadership, of 'harassment' of an 'innocent' man.
The Ali episode is only the tip of the iceberg.
The Manmohan Singh Government has tied itself up in knots trying to explain
why the BJP's arguments on Indian money lying in banking havens were actually
flawed and a waste of time. There are three reasons for the UPA Government's
conduct. First, its sheer arrogance and contempt for the Opposition led it
to believe only it knew best. Second, the Congress is extraordinarily cynical
and brazen when it comes to corruption issues and believes they hardly matter
to the voter, who can be won over with patronage. Third, it is clearly protective
of certain individuals. The UPA Government has been sophisticated in its corruption
- a reflection perhaps of the new economic framework, where public contracts
matter less than the policy-changing power of individual Ministries. Political
corruption has moved from the era of suitcases and currency notes in mango
baskets to discreet bank transfers to numbered accounts. In the case of Ali,
it was one strongman who was being looked after. In the case of another powerful
Minister - believed to have unexplained properties in France - the motivation
is perhaps similar. What this adds up to is a thoroughly compromised political
machine. The Congress cannot move on corruption because it fears it will be
trapped by any honest investigation. Indian money in Swiss banks is only the
symptom. The disease lies in the heart of Lutyens' Delhi.
