SC reserves order on plea against its SIT to probe black money

New Delhi, Sep 1 (PTI) The Indian Supreme Court on
Thursday reserved its orders on the maintainability of the
government plea for recall of its July 4 order appointing an
SIT (Special Investigation Team) to probe the black money
issue.
A bench of justices Altamas Kabir and S S Nijjar said it
would pass appropriate orders on the maintainability plea on
September 20.
Earlier, resuming the arguments, senior counsel Anil
Divan, appearing for the petitioners Ram Jethmalani and
others, said the government's plea should be dismissed as the
recall application "is, in fact, an appeal on merits,
disguised as an application for modification and is an abuse
of the process to defeat the public interest".
Divan submitted that the order constituting the SIT was
passed by the apex court after hearing detailed arguments for
several days.
Citing the apex court's earlier directions on forming
SITs in cases relating to post-Godhra riots and CBI (Central
Bureau of Investigation) investigations in various matters,
Divan argued that appointment of the two Supreme Court judges
to head the SIT would only lend credibility to the probe.
The counsel submitted that the government cannot oppose
it as it did not violate its fundamental rights and the
principle of natural justice was observed by hearing the
government before passing the impugned order.
Attorney General G E Vahanvati, in his brief
intervention, said the order ought to be recalled as the
government was proceeding in the right direction in unearthing
the black money allegedly stashed away in foreign tax havens.

The Indian government had earlier told the bench that the
SIT set up by the apex court to probe and unearth black money
needs to be scrapped as the investigating agency cannot
function like a "super power."
Vahanvati had said the Government had "very serious"
reservations on the court's directions which had also cast
aspersions on sincerity of the Government in tackling the
black money menace.
Divan had sought dismissal of the government's
application and had said the apex court had rightly
constituted the SIT as even the Centre had at that time
admitted that the investigations were not proceeding in the
right direction.
The bench had pointed out that the SIT was initially
constituted by the Centre and the apex court had merely
incorporated the names of retired SC judges, justices B P
Jeevan Reddy and M B Shah.
The government, in its application, had also raised
objections to the apex court remarks criticising the
government's handling of black money cases.
The court had made the critical observations while
appointing its former judges - justices Reddy and Shah, as
chairman and vice-chairman of the 13-member SIT into which the
Director of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) too had been
inducted.
The government, in its application for recall of the
Court's July 4 order had contended that the SIT was formed
without being prayed for and has questioned the Court remarks
that investigations into the issue of black money stashed
abroad was moving at a "laggardly pace".
The bench had in its order said the money stashed away
reveal the degree of "softness of the State".