With the controversy over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s jibe over ‘five star activists’ during a conference of Judges and Chief Ministers is still on, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday ignited yet another topic for debate by saying that funding sources of those who are filing Public Interest litigation (PIl) intended for stopping the developmental activities in India should also be disclosed.
“Since the debate is on that it should not be a bad idea if it is made mandatory that everybody who files such PIls which are intended to stop developmental activities in India. They should also disclose as part of mandatory disclosure what their funding sources are,” said Jaitley in context of the hurdle faced by Gujarat International Finance Tec City due to PIls during a conference on “Regulatory Framework for IFSC in India” in Gandhinagar.
The Finance Minister further said that in order to contest an election if he has to disclose his entire assets or elected MlAs have to disclose their assets and even civil servants too reveal their assets. We have the RTI available against the all of them, so these ‘conscious’ people crusaders’ should be little more transparent than us, he said, adding that therefore the world must know that from where the funds for such litigations are coming or whether in order to stop development these litigations even be inspired by the funding sources itself, he added.
“When somebody saw a great idea being implemented, his best weapon to stop it is a PIl. I am given to understand that, the GIFT city had to walk through the entire test of PIls too,” said the Minister. Even though GIFT got SEZ status in 2011, it had to wait for three years, wait for the change of Government at the Centre to get relevant push through regulatory and other approvals for India’s first International Finance Service Centre (IFSC), said Jaitley.
“On the contrary, the new Government’s commitment to federalism can be visible in its approach to encourage development in States irrespective of ruling party’s there. In the 14th Finance Commission, UP was the largest beneficiary State. In the present Budget, we have announced tax benefits for Bihar and Bengal. Because the PM is repeatedly saying that lesser developed parts of India requires to be encouraged,” he said.