SC adjourns pleas seeking to recover black money stashed in foreign accounts
Aug 30, 2022
New Delhi [India], August 30 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned a petition filed in 2009 by the late veteran lawyer and politician, Ram Jethmalani and others seeking steps to recover black money stashed in foreign accounts.
A bench of Justices S Abdul Nazeer, AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, adjourned the matter after the counsel appearing for the petitioners sought two weeks' time to seek instructions in the case.
The petition, filed in 2009, was last heard in 2016.
The petitions filed by Jethmalani and other persons pointed out that the massive volume of unaccounted money indicates a significant lack of control over unlawful activities through which such monies are generated, evasion of taxes, and use of unlawful means of transfer of funds.
It was alleged that these funds are then laundered and brought back into India, to be used in both legal and illegal activities.
On July 4, 2011, the Supreme Court had constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising former apex court judges to monitor and guide the investigation related to the stashing of unaccounted monies in foreign bank accounts by Indians or other entities operating in India.
The apex court had said the issue of black money indicated a "failure of the state" and observed that a resolution of the problem was of "primordial importance to the welfare of the citizens". It asked the Centre to submit the names of foreign bank account holders in a sealed cover to it.
Jethmalani, on May 12, 2015, had expressed his anguish before the top court at the unsatisfactory progress in the investigation and alleged that the government "has no intention to proceed against those stashing black money as the persons in power appear to be involved in it.
