Central Govt. prayd SC to recall it's Black Money Order

The central government Wednesday told the Supreme Court that its judgment and order on black money needed to be recalled as its implementation would have far reaching consequences on its functioning.

The apex court bench of Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice S.S. Nijjar was told that converting the high-level committee headed by the revenue secretary into a special investigating team (SIT) amounted to dislodging each and every authority set up under the law.

The HLC comprising the heads of different organisations or their representatives was set up by the government to monitor and co-ordinate investigation into parking of ill-gotten money by Indians in tax havens abroad.

Attorney General Goolam Vahanvati wondered how secretary-revenue, or deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India would transform themselves into the role of investigators. The attorney general wondered how director of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s external intelligence agency, could be included in the SIT.

The attorney general said that ‘there were serious objections on converting the HLC into SIT. How the members of the HLC would become the investigators’.

The court was told that director, RAW, was a faceless entity and nobody knew who he was.

The government moved an application July 15 seeking the recall of the court’s July 4 order. But Wednesday it moved another application restricting its prayer to recall that portion of the July 4 order by which the apex court set up a SIT to probe money laundering.

The SIT was asked to undertake investigation, initiation of proceedings and prosecution.

The application said that in exercise of the jurisdiction under Article 32 of the constitution, the apex court could not pass orders ‘which have the affect of completely eliminating the role and the constitutional functions of the executive (government).’

Vahanvati wondered if the ‘SIT without the authority of law, where would it get its funds’.

The court was told that there were very serious issues about the scope of the reference of the SIT asking it to do everything and SIT can’t possibly do.

Vahanvati said that the way SIT has been made responsible to the apex court, it would denude the finance minister of his power to ask for any report from his officials.

Senior counsel Anil Divan, who commenced the arguments for petitioner and noted jurist Ram Jethmalani, would continue his arguments Thursday.

The apex court’s July 4 verdict came on the petition by Jethmalani seeking direction to take steps for bringing back ill-gotten money stashed away in tax havens by Indian citizens and the disclosure of the names of such account holders that were available with the government.