Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday launched a stinging attack on the Congress party and its leader P Chidambaram urging party president Rahul Gandhi to take action against the former Union finance minister.
Addressing a press conference, the senior BJP leader said, “For some time now we have been hearing a lot of action by the I-T authorities against former finance minister P Chidambaram and his family. In India, for the Congress Party this is the Nawaz Sharif moment. Chidambaram’s family has been booked under Black Money Act for illegal assets in several countries and for operating illegal foreign bank accounts.”
“The Congress party’s president Rahul Gandhi, who himself is out on bail, should certainly comment and tell people of India if he is going to investigate on this senior leader of the party not having disclosed income held abroad,” Nirmala Sitharaman added.
The defence minister said the senior Congress leader had violated the Black Money Law by not disclosing his investments to tax authorities.
“Chidambaram didn’t disclose its investments to tax authority, violating Black Money Law, which was brought by the Modi government as part of its drive against black money and to prosecute those Indians who have secretly stashed illicit wealth abroad,” she said adding that the “IT department filed four charge sheets in a Chennai city court on 11th May, 2018 against Chidambaram’s wife Nalini, son Karti and his wife Srinidhi under section 50 of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015.
The present chargesheets are for not disclosing, either partly or fully, immovable assets like the one at Cambridge in the UK worth Rs. 5.37 crore, property worth Rs. 80 lakh in the same country and assets worth Rs.3.28 crore in the U.S,” she said.
BJP national president Amit Shah also upped the attack on former finance minister saying IT had estimated illegal assets held by Chidambaram to be worth 3 billion dollars.
“Under the Black Money Act, 4 chargesheets have been filed against P Chidambaram and his family for possessing and operating several illegal assets and accounts in foreign countries. IT estimates illegal assets held by UPA’s FM to be to the tune of 3 Bn dollars!” tweeted Amit Shah.
Under the Black Money Act, 4 chargesheets have been filed against P Chidambaram and his family for possessing and operating several illegal assets and accounts in foreign countries. IT estimates illegal assets held by UPA’s FM to be to the tune of 3 Bn dollars! #BlackMoneyOfPC
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) May 13, 2018
In another tweet, Shah said, “This explains why despite Supreme Court’s orders Sonia Gandhi, former PM Dr Manmohan Singh & then FM P Chidambaram dragged their feet on formation of SIT, one of the first decisions taken by Modi govt, to fight Black Money! How could they indict their own selves”
This explains why despite Supreme Court’s orders Sonia Gandhi, former PM Dr Manmohan Singh & then FM P Chidambaram dragged their feet on formation of SIT, one of the first decisions taken by Modi govt, to fight Black Money! How could they indict their own selves? #BlackMoneyOfPC
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) May 13, 2018
On Saturday, the family of Chidambaram had said the chargesheets filed by the Income Tax Department against them on Friday for allegedly not declaring their foreign assets contained baseless allegations.