Kiran Bedi demands strong law to tackle black money

New Delhi - Former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer and Team Anna member Kiran Bedi has demanded introduction of a strong law to unearth and bring back black money stashed away in foreign banks and tax havens abroad.

"Baba Ramdev had spoken about black money. Anna Hazare is harping on the Lokpal. Both of them are two sides of the same coin. When the law system is not rightly implemented, most of black money is generated. Black money is generated in the absence of proper law system. We want a law so that black money resulting from the lawlessness comes back," Bedi said.

"The black money is actually our earning. It is not any lottery, but the assets of the country. We want that the law should be so strict that a lawbreaker should dread it," she added.

Carrying on her tirade against the present government, Bedi further accused it for not enacting the Lokpal Bill so as to protect the vested interests and corrupt public figures.

"It (ombudsman body of Lokpal) has not been constituted because if they bring in the Jan Lokpal and if the CBI is freed from all forms of political interference then the law situation will improve and the stolen wealth will also come back. So this is the crux," she said.

Bedi further said that the central government is yet to form a special investigative team (SIT) of retired judges to probe the recent charges levelled by IAC against 14 ministers including the Prime Minister.

"Recently, we requested the Prime Minister. The whole Team Anna, Prashant Bhushan, Arvind Kejriwal conducted research and found out that grave offences and complaints exist against 14 persons. We wanted a SIT to probe the charges," she said.

"We also have some complaints against the Prime Minister. An SIT should be formed so that it can be found out as to which of the charges are true and which are not. But so far nothing has happened. No SIT has been formed," she added.

On Sunday, under the banner of India Against Corruption (IAC), Anna Hazare and Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev Ramdev undertook a day long fast against graft and nepotism in public life as well as black money.