Congress demands probe into 'selective leakage' of demonetisation

New Delhi, Nov 16: Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma on Wednesday demanded a probe into "selective leakage" of the demonetisation move, which he termed a "Nadirshahi farman" (autocratic order).

Congress leader Sharma also sought to know from Prime Minister Narendra Modi as to "who wants to kill him", referring to the Prime Minister's speech in Goa where he had said that with demonetisation resulting in "Looting of their 70 year corrupt earnings, they will destroy me, they can kill me".

"There should have been an ordinance for demonetization. But no ordinance was brought. This is a Nadirshahi farman (autocratic order)," Sharma said.

"The decision to demonetise high currency notes was leaked to a select few. Secrecy was not maintained on this issue. It was published in a Gujarati newspaper long back and even other newspapers wrote about it," said Sharma.

"There should be a probe into the selective leakage of information," he said, asking: "What did the government do to prepare for effective implementation of the policy."

He also sought to know from the government which law gave it the right to impose limits on withdrawing money from peoples' own accounts.

"I condemn PM's statement in Goa for mocking the people who are standing in queues. He must apologise. Please explain who wants to kill you," said Sharma posing a question to the Prime Minister.

"An atmosphere has been created by the government where questioning them has become a parameter to decide one's nationalism," said Sharma.

He sought to know from Prime Minister Modi as to from where the "15 thousand crore rupees spent on your mega election campaign come from".

"Did you pay for your recent Ghazipur rally through credit card," Sharma said mocking the government for asking people to use plastic money for day to day expenses.

Sharma also demanded that Prime Minister Modi must disclose the list of those names, who are holding black money in Swiss banks.

"Government has a list of those holding black money in Swiss banks. We demand that Prime Minister must tell who all are there in the list," said Sharma.

He said the government should disclose how much money left India between March and September this year and how many people invested in bullion, bought gold or forex during this period.

Sharma also said if the government-run State Bank of India (SBI) knew about the demonetisation move in March, why did it not make preparations like recalibrating ATMs and arranging sufficient cash in smaller denominations.

He took a dig at the government for using the term "surgical strike" in the context of demonetization and the unplanned consequences of the move, saying, "Bina doctori padhe sab surgeon ban gaye (You became a surgeon without training or education)."