Kejri’s next target: Judiciary

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After taking on politicians and businessmen, India Against Corruption will now target the judiciary, Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday. He said several high profile cases were dragging on in the courts for several years without any decisive outcome.

Asked by a television channel why he doesn’t move courts with his charges, Kejriwal said this is what the government wants so that it can “manage” things there. He said IAC activist and lawyer Prashant Bhushan will address the media on the issue of judiciary.

Meanwhile, releasing handwritten documents purportedly being the confessional statements of Parminder Singh Kalra, Vikram Dhirani and Praveen Sawhney, who were raided by IT department, Kejriwal alleged HSBC facilitated them in opening accounts without them going to Geneva: “The money was handed to over to an agent here and whenever, they wanted to withdraw they used to contact a person in Geneva and the amount was delivered in India.

The statements by the three persons reveal that HSBC is openly and brazenly running a hawala racket.” He admitted he did not have “official documents” to support his charges.
But he said he has made allegations after checking with the sources. He said he got an input from a Congress leader who was inducted in the recent Cabinet reshuffle.

He also claimed that the government misinformed Parliament on amount stashed in the 700 accounts, as contained in the CD provided to India by the French government. Giving details of the amounts in the Swiss accounts, Kejriwal listed names of Ambani brothers with Rs 100 crore each, Reliance Group’s Motech Software Rs 2,100 crore, late Sandeep and Annu Tandon Rs 125 crore each, Naresh Goyal Rs 80 crore and Dabur's Burman brothers Rs 25 crore.

In a statement, Reliance Industries stated: “Neither Reliance Industries Limited nor Mukesh Ambani have or had any illegitimate accounts anywhere in the world.“ Anil Ambani's office asserted in a statement that he had no bank accounts with HSBC in Geneva.

“It is regrettable that such baseless allegations are being made by IAC at the behest of vested interests,“ stated Anil Ambani’s spokesperson.

The Burmans clarified they had accounts in Swiss banks when they were NRIs for which the required approvals were taken. HSBC Bank in a cautious statement said: “HSBC takes compliance with the law, wherever it operates, very seriously.

With a new senior global leadership team and a new strategy in place since last year, HSBC continues to take concrete steps to strengthen compliance, risk management and culture.” Goyal has also denied the allegations.