Left parties say Paradise Papers proof demonetisation failed to tackle corruption, tax evasion

NEW DELHI: Left parties said on Monday the NDA government must order a probe into the Paradise Papers if it wants people to believe it is serious about tackling corruption. Former CPM general secretary Prakash Karat said the Paradise Papers pointed how corruption and generation of black money has become systemic in India. “This shows how misplaced and irrelevant demonetisation has been.The exposure of the Paradise papers should lead the Modi government to admit its total failure in tackling black money and tax evasion in the last one year since demonetisation was announced,” Karat said.
The Left leader also said the leak of the Paradise Papers pointed to the larger issue of the lack of a regulatory authority to handle tax evasions of this nature. He said, “In our country, there is hardly any law to handle this industrial scale of tax evasion. What is needed is not only an investigation into individual cases, but there is also a need to set up a regulatory authority that can actually bring this within the purview of law.”
Following the Paradise Paper leaks, which name over 700 Indians, BJP MPs among them, CPI secretary D Raja said, “PM Modi, in his rallies, said Congress is synonymous with corruption. But now that people from his own party have been named, what does he have to say? He must speak and clear the air.”
Reiterating that the government must order a probe and bring all guilty to book, the CPI leader also said that his party had demanded the same when the Panama Papers were leaked, but that the Centre scuttled the issue. “Even Saudi Arabia is cracking down on corruption. But we, despite being a democracy, do nothing. Modi wants to celebrate November 8 as anti-black money day. Let him celebrate the Paradise Papers,” Raja said