Open Questions Addressed to the Prime Minister

Dear Prime Minister,

You are now busy capturing the votes of the adult population of Bihar. Your flattering supporters are expecting what they call the ‘Modi Magic’ to capture the votes of Biharis for you. I have experienced Modi Magic once and badly burnt my vitals. I do not wish to repeat the performance. My vote capturing ability has no comparison to yours but it the duty of every citizen even the humblest of them is to declare the truth and share it with the voters. It may bear no fruit but the duty to the nation requires it. I am convinced that if I do not speak up and sink into silence instead, providence and the people will not forgive me. I propose to ask you through the available media some questions every day. I do not mind if your Finance Minister or some other subordinate answers them. But I hope you will speak the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

1. You are doubtless aware that the German Government took an extraordinary step of securing the 1400 names in Liechtenstein Bank of illicit account holders majority of whom were probably Indians by rewarding an employee of the Bank. The German Government offered publicly to share the information with every friendly Government including India without cost or condition. Yet the previous government took no steps to secure the relevant information obviously because it wanted to shield those who controlled it. The German government was wanting to stop the customer confidentiality practices of Banks in notorious tax havens an object fully legitimised by the United Convention Against Corruption signed by India in 2005. Did you ever read the Supreme Court judgment obtained by me and my co-petitioners which rejected the untenable and antinational stand of the Congress government that they could get this information only under the DTAT with Germany as also the contention they made that the secrecy clause of the DTAT prevented disclosure of the identity of the criminals. It is a reasonable expectation of the people of India from your government which made removal of corruption and recovery of Black money stashed in tax havens abroad its main declared objective. You had declared often that you would not only recover this stolen wealth but put 15 Lacs Indian Rupees in the pocket of every poor family of India? How come you did nothing of the kind!!

2. Are you aware that Admiral Tahiliani President of the Indian Chapter of Transparency International repeatedly referred to the Indian government’s failure to take the proper and easy course of getting the information by a simple approach to the German government to share the names publicly offered and promised by it ?

3. Did you once ask your two leaders of opposition at that time, whom later you have included in your cabinet , to approach the German government or even its Ambassador in India to provide us this information ?

4. Did you not read my repeated public complaints about the manner in which your election promise was being made to look like an act of deception and fraud on the people. Have you ever had the decency and moral courage to explain this gross misconduct of yourself and your Finance Minister.

5. You are aware that the appointment of CVC has been challenged in the Supreme Court and even though permission was granted by the court to make the appointment at the request of your government the appointment is subject to all the contentions raised which will now be decided by the Hon’ble Court. Do you know that this gentleman went to Paris to do some investigation in the Black Money case. Who made him advisor to the SIT, who sanctioned his visit to Paris, what was he required to do what did he did there, what places did he visit, whom did he contact, whom did he interrogate or question, what did he achieve, what places did he visit, what expenses did he incur and what report did he make on return? Do you know till today any of these things and whether they have relevance to his appointment as CVC? Are you willing to tell the people and me as one of them what did he achieve for the nation and what relevance did his actions have to the port of CVC which he got ,may be by way of reward. It is my duty to tell the people that both the Chairman and Vice-Chairman have told me that all these matters have been done and sanctioned without their knowledge or consent. No report of his activities abroad is available with the SIT. Obviously he did somethings  to secure his appointment as CVC.

6. Are you aware that under orders of the Supreme Court , the then government was ordered to disclose to me as petitioner all the correspondence that had taken place between the government of India and the German authorities. With great difficulty and persistence 17 letters between 27/02/2008 and 18/03/2009 were supplied to me under the Governments letter of 27th May, 2014. All the names of the writers and the addressees have been scored out by indelible ink. The excuse for this criminal behaviour is that this is in accordance with international practice. This is a fraud and a total falsehood. The last letter i.e. 18.03.2009 refers to some information enclosed. That has not been supplied. The correspondence is not with the German Government but a tax office which deals only with honest taxpayers who by the law of two or more countries have to pay tax on the same income. It has nothing to do with the dacoits of Liechtenstein. The blacking out of the names and identity of the writers and addressees of the letters has nothing to do with any international practice. 

These matters have been raised by me more than once. Has your Finance Minster or any one so far salvaged the information enclosed with the letter of 18.03.2009. The CVC appointed by you has everything to do these forgeries and falsehoods. Will you now seek and supply the information?

7. It appears to me that no explanation plausible and truthful is available with you or your Ministry of Finance. No wonder the newly appointed President of the B.J.P, obviously your choice ,has found an easy way to fool the people, “It was all a Jumla an election joke”. You have never repudiated this stunt and you are solemnly using this stunt master to get votes in Bihar. In your place I would have felt insulted if someone seriously lampooned me as a joker. 

8. Do you agree that a whole year has gone by and not a farthing has been recovered from the millions which the employee of the Liechtenstein Bank has disclosed to the German government. You have visited Germany after you became Prime Minister of India and the Hon’ble Chancellor of Germany was with us this week. Have you ever asked her or any other German authority to give you the names furnished by that employee of the Bank. If you don’t know ask Mr. Jaitley or the new CVC. Are you even now willing to make an appropriate and honest request to the government of Germany? Otherwise the people are entitled to conclude that you were party to a criminal conspiracy to defraud the Indian nation which you continue to do without any revolt or revulsion by your conscience. 

9. Lastly I must tell you and the people of India that I have personally been to Germany and was pained to hear that no request of any kind has come from the government of India or even the opposition which you did head at the relevant time. In paragraph 82 of its judgment the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India Held “We have perused the documents in question, and heard the arguments of the Union of India with respect to the double taxation agreement with Germany as an obstacle to disclosure. We do not find any merit in its arguments flowing from the provisions of double taxation agreement with Germany.”

Anyway the DTAT with Germany has nothing to do with the contents of the material supplied by the Liechtenstein employee.

10. You can mend matters by seeking the forgiveness of the people India and getting rid of your Minister of Finance.