SC bench differs on Centre's plea on SIT in blackmoney case

New Delhi (PTI) - A two-judge bench of the Indian
Supreme Court on Friday gave a split verdict on the
maintainability of government's application seeking recall of
the apex court order on constitution of an SIT to probe
blackmoney cases.
The order was passed by a bench comprising justices
Altamas Kabir and S S Nijjar on the Centre's plea for recall
of the court's July 4 decision.
While justice Kabir pronounced his verdict in favour of
the government, saying the Centre's plea was maintainable,
Justice Nijjar refused to hear the application, saying it is
not maintainable.
In view of the split verdict, the bench referred the
matter to the Chief Justice for constitution of a larger bench
to decide the maintainability of the Centre's plea.
SC-BLACKMONEY 2 LAST
The apex court had on July 4 recast the high-level
committee, formed by the Centre earlier to track blackmoney
stashed away abroad, by setting up a Special Investigation
Team and making ex-apex court judges B P Jeevan Reddy and M B
Shah as its chairman and vice-chairman respectively.
The others in the 13-member SIT are directors of CBI,
Intelligence Bureau, Enforcement Directorate, Chairman of
CBDT, Director General of Revenue Intelligence, Director
General of Narcotics Control, Director of Foreign Intelligence
Office (FIO) and Joint Secretary of Foreign Trade, besides the
Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) Director.
The apex court had recast the Centre's high-level
committee expressing dissatisfaction over the pace of its
functioning and saying the money stashed away reveal a degree
of "softness of the State".
The Centre subsequently moved the apex court, seeking
recall of its order.
But the apex court, before going into the merits of the
Centre's application, had agreed to adjudicate whether it is
maintainable as senior advocate Ram Jethmalani and others
questioned its maintainability.
The Centre had in its recall application contended that
the SIT was formed without being prayed for. It has also
questioned the Court's remarks that probe into the issue of
black money stashed abroad was moving at a "laggardly pace".
During an earlier hearing, the Centre had also 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."