The Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party also rejected the BJP’s defence and questioned Jaitley’s plea that termed the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) signed between India and Germany in 1995 as a hindrance to disclosing names of foreign bank account holders.

The AAP said: “The FM’s argument is misleading.”

Jaitley reiterated government’s stand saying it would not be pushed into an act of adventurism and jeopardise the chances of getting cooperation of other countries in future. The NDA government’s approach to black money, he said, “was doggedly persistent, not adventurist”.

In a Facebook post, Jaitley said: “The government stands committed to detecting the names, prosecuting the guilty and making them public. We are not going to be pushed into an act of adventurism where we violate treaties and then plead that we are no longer able to get the cooperation of reciprocating states. Such an approach may actually help the account holders. Adventurism will be short-sighted. A mature approach will take us to the root of the matter.”

Jaitley said: “The government will not withhold any information, including names of account holders who have stashed black money abroad, from the public. But the names will be revealed after following the due process of completing investigations and reaching conclusions about quantum of unaccounted money.” Hazare, in a letter to the PM, said: “The NDA-led government is in power for more than five months now and issues such as black money or appointment of Lokpal have not yet seen the light of day. Not the speeches but actions bring transformation.”