Steps taken to bring back black money stashed abroad: Veerappa Moily

Amid growing opposition calls for making public the list of Indians who have stashed black money abroad, Union law minister Veerappa Moily today said the UPA government had nothing to hide on the issue and it was upto the Supreme Court to reveal the names.

"We are not hiding anything, the Supreme Court has been given the list in a sealed cover and it is upto it to reveal the names," Moily told reporters here when asked about the list of Indians who had parked black money in secret accounts in banks overseas.

He said that the government had "already taken steps to bring back black money despite treaties coming in the way."

Moily said under the treaty, details about deposits in other countries could be made available only in case of tax evasion or violation of foreign exchange laws. The treaty conditions varies from country to country.

A lot of "pro-active" steps had been taken by the government in this regard, he said amidst continuing fierce attacks from opposition which is trying to put the UPA in the dock demanding disclosure of the names of Indians.

Seeking to turn the tables on the opposition, Moily sought to know why steps were not taken by the BJP-led NDA government to bring back blackmoney held abroad and why they were making accusations against the UPA government although it was making "sincere efforts".