Interested in bringing back black money, not names: Supreme court

“We are interested in the money coming back… not in the names. We want the money to come back to us (country),” said the bench, also comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and A K Sikri.

The observation was made after advocate Prashant Bhushan, who appeared for Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal, said that the government should disclose names of those who had paid penalties for unlawfully parking money in foreign back accounts. Bhushan said that since they had already admitted to the illegality, their names should be made public.

Meanwhile, senior advocate Anil Divan, who appeared for PIL petitioner Ram Jethmalani, argued the fresh application by Jethmalani. The application had cited an article written by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval in 2011. Doval, in a blogpost on February 21, 2011, talked about how India can get the money plundered abroad. The plea said the SIT should consider all the methods to bring back black money and give its recommendations.

The court, however, asked Divan that it was “certain that the SIT will do its job well” and hence he should approach the SIT with his request. It further asked Divan to go to SIT with his other plea to frame a new legislation to deal with the offences relating to the black money cases.

“The SIT comprises retired senior judges of this court. They will consider your requests and reply accordingly,” said the court.