New Delhi, Aug 23 (PTI) Known for the rulings on black money stashed abroad during his stint as a Supreme Court judge, the Opposition's vice presidential candidate, B Sudershan Reddy, asserted on Saturday that the nation's wealth has to be brought back and it is a work in progress.

Reddy, as a judge of the Supreme Court earlier, has given verdicts criticising the then governments at the Centre for showing "slackness" in probing black money cases. He had also ordered the setting up of an SIT to bring back the black money from abroad.

"The work is still in progress... It is important. A substantial section of the nation's wealth moved out of the country through various means and mechanisms. That has to be brought back. It is our money, your money, my money and the nation's wealth," Reddy told PTI.

"Unless somebody tells us, you and me, that there is no black economy, there is no black money, nothing moved from the country. It is the other side who are holding that judgment in their hands in the election campaign to implement the judgment," he said.

Recalling that veteran BJP leader L K Advani cited the SC verdict delivered by him, Reddy said, "He (Advani) underwent on a country-wide yatra also on this, with the judgement in his hand." "After my retirement, there was an occasion to interact with him. He never raised and asked me any question about Salwa Judum. I appreciate the effort made by the Supreme Court, not by me, to unearth black money," Reddy noted.

The BJP had made bringing back black money as one of the major poll planks in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, which it won along with its allies. PTI SKC RT

Black money repatriation: nation's wealth must be brought back through sustained enforcement and investigative action. Black money stashed abroad must be actively recovered through sustained enforcement and investigative mechanisms; prior governmental slackness in probing such cases has been criticised and judicially prompted institutional responses, including the constitution of a Special Investigation Team, have been invoked to trace and repatriate assets, with emphasis on implementing judicial mandates and ensuring governmental accountability in ongoing recovery efforts.