New Delhi, March 19 (PTI): Dissident BJP leader and former Union finance minister Yashwant Sinha today said demonetisation had led to “tax terrorism” and likened Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a medieval era Delhi king known for his whimsical decisions.
Sinha made these remarks at the launch of a book, Demonetization and the Black Economy, by economist Arun Kumar, who has been critical of the exercise. Suspended BJD MP Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda and Congress leader Prithiviraj Chavan were also participating in the panel discussion.
The former finance minister derisively said that “not policy-makers but only one policy-maker” decides what has to be done.
Asked by the moderator if he was comparing Modi to Muhammad bin Tughluq, Sinha said he was not taking any names.
Sinha said “tax terrorism”, which the BJP was critical of when it was in the opposition, has returned because of the note ban, and claimed the income tax department registered 1.8 million cases following the decision and was ill-equipped to probe them all anytime soon.
Is the department equipped to handle so many cases and how much time it is going to take to bring those cases to a final conclusion, he asked, claiming people will never know how much black money was actually recovered until investigation in all those cases are complete.
Asked how would he have tackled the flow of black money, Sinha quipped, “Demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) are subjects to write books upon how things should not be done.”
