The NDA government on Friday urged the Supreme Court to modify its order in the black money case on absolute disclosure of information pertaining to people who stashed tainted money abroad. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi mentioned the fresh application before a bench led by Chief Justice H L Dattu, which put it for hearing on October 28. The application cited the double taxation avoidance agreement to state information relating to account holders in foreign banks could not be put in public domain by virtue of the treaty. The government, led by BJP which had promised bringing back black money if it came to power, however now claimed that not all information could be disclosed. It also said that information can be provided only about the accounts after the treaty came to fore and not about past transactions. However, appearing as petitioner in person in the PIL on the issue, senior advocate Ram Jethmalani strongly opposed the plea, saying the government sought to protect the "culprits" and this application seemed to be moved on their behalf. He sought dismissal of the application at threshold, calling it a very serious attempt by the government to circumvent the court orders on disclosing in national interest all information on black money account holders. The court however said it would need to at least peruse the application before it passes any order.
