CPI for confiscation of 'illegal' foreign accounts of Indians

"All these accounts should be confiscated and used for the common good of the nation. CPI demands that the government should take up the issue with the Swiss Banks Association and Swiss government immediately and settle it," a statement by the party's Central Secretariat said here.

Opposing the BJP's proposal to legalise these amounts by collecting penalties and imposing taxes, the CPI said the Supreme Court directive to the government to reply why the names of depositors were not being declared "is yet to be replied to".

The Left party asked the people to agitate and pressurise the government to announce the list of depositors and confiscate the amount. Maintaining that its MPs had raised this issue in Parliament in 2009, it demanded that an estimated Rs 72,000 lakh crore worth of alleged deposits of Indians kept in the Swiss banks should be confiscated.

"There is no action yet from government. In the recent days, the amount of money is alleged to be Rs 280 lakh crore (kept as) deposits from Indians. Though Swiss banks association claimed that it is an exaggeration, they have refused to divulge the real amount," the statement said.

Taking note of the Wikileaks decision to release the list of such deposit holders including depositors from the US, Europe and Asia, it said it "may be a partial list". "The black money, unaccounted money, is much more than the economy of the country. This needs to be brought out. It is said that every year more than 34,000 people from India are visiting Switzerland and some of them more than two to four times. Why the government does not enquire into these details? Whom do they want to defend," the party asked.