New Delhi: An opposition-sponsored adjournment motion on black money was defeated yesterday in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament.
After a voice vote, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar ruled: "I think the ‘Noes' have it; the motion is rejected."
Under an understanding reached with the government earlier, the opposition did not press for a division of vote, in which each vote is counted. Doing so would have exposed the government's majority on a crucial issue being debated in the country.
The opposition agreed to the government's request of toning down the language of the adjournment motion by replacing "indictment" to "concern" over black money stashed away in foreign banks and also not to press for division of votes.
The opposition had been demanding a discussion on the black money issue through an adjournment motion and found it difficult to scale down its demand. At the same time, it did not want the government to be defeated and create political instability in the country, leading to an understanding to let the government emerge victorious.
Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Lal Krishna Advani introduced the motion and criticised the government for its lack of sincere efforts to recover the huge amount of black money stashed away in foreign banks, more so in the light of the fact that several smaller and less influential countries had succeeded in getting back their money locked in foreign banks.
Advani also accused the government of being soft on the issue. The debate that lasted several hours was a lively one. The ruling Congress party hit back at the opposition by saying the problem of black money was a legacy issue.
Several speakers wanted the government to act decisively and fast saying the black money is used to finance terror activities in the country.
Replying to the debate, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee rejected the opposition demand to quantify the size of the black money lying in foreign banks or reveal names of the account holders.
"I want to have an authentic and authoritative assessment of the quantum of black money… Indians have become major investors in various European countries and the names cannot be revealed at this stage since some of the account holders may be genuine," Mukherjee said.
Serious issue
Mukherjee termed the issue of black money as serious and requested the opposition not to politicise it. He added that the government of India had to deal with other sovereign countries and follow their laws and international practices.
"I have no problem declaring the black money [stashed away in foreign banks] as national property, as many suggested. What do we do then, send our army to Switzerland?" Mukherjee questioned.
