Bench split,black money SIT goes to CJI

Of the two judges hearing the application,Justice Altamas Kabir held that the Centre’s plea was maintainable while Justice S S Nijjar said it was not.

Justice Nijjar,incidentally,was part of the bench,the other being Justice B Sudershan Reddy (now retired),that had ordered the setting up of the SIT — with former SC Judges B P Jeevan Reddy and M B Shah as its chairman and vice-chairman,respectively — to track black money stashed away abroad.

At the last hearing,the bench had decided to first adjudicate whether the Centre’s plea was maintainable,with the petitioners questioning its maintainability.

On August 24,arguing for the Centre,Attorney General Goolam E Vahanvati had termed the SIT a “super-force” beyond Parliament and existing laws. He had also pointed out that the SIT was to have as member the “nameless,faceless” chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW).

The AG had told the court that government was concerned about black money but wanted to combat the problem in an appropriate manner,asserting that many proposed members of the SIT were serving officers who had communicated they “cannot function like this”.

In its July 4 judgment,the apex court had ordered that the 13-member SIT should also include the Secretary,Department of Revenue; Deputy Governor,Reserve Bank of India; Director,Intelligence Bureau; Director,Enforcement Directorate; Director,CBI; Chairman,CBDT; Director General,Narcotics Control Bureau; Director General,Revenue Intelligence; Director,Financial Intelligence Unit and Joint Secretary,CBDT.

However,the Centre,in its recall application,argued that the SIT was formed without being prayed for in the petition. It also questioned the court’s remarks that the probe into the issue of black money stashed abroad was moving at a “laggardly pace”.