SC again raps government for inaction on black money in tax havens

The Supreme Court today said that the government had gone to sleep over unearthing black money by treating it only as a tax evasion matter. The court added that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) would need to be constituted look into the source of black money and its impact on national security.

The court said that according to the government's probe into black money, it appeared to be focused on Hasan Ali Khan and LGT Bank account holders. The court implied that the probe appeared to exclude the possibility of other suspects who parked illegal money abroad or in Swiss bank.

According to analysts the court's strong comments should be taken as a wake-up call by the government which had done little to investigate Indians who had stashed black money in foreign bank accounts.

The court said, "You say different agencies are looking into the issue. Till now what these agencies were doing? Are they sleeping?"

 "Only one person in this country has an account in Switzerland. No other Indian has an account?  You are working from 2009. What information do you have?" asked the court.

Ali was arrested last month and, has, been extensively interrogated since then, largely at the prodding and insistence of the apex court, about money-laundering and possible links to international arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi and terrorist networks.