The Supreme Court has not only exposed the Modi government's intentions, it has also questioned its credibility, says Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com
The Supreme Court on Tuesday, October 28, pulled up the government for seeking a modification of its earlier order on the disclosure of names of black money holders abroad.
In doing so, the court seriously questioned the Narendra Modi government's doubtful attitude over the black money issue.
Among the many harsh things the apex court told the government, the most worrying for the latter is that the entire black money investigation process and cases can go to the Central Bureau of Investigation, says a senior lawyer deeply involved in the case. While issuing the order on Tuesday, one judge mentioned this possibility.
The lawyer, who is a prominent member of the team handling the case, pointed out to Rediff.com that the Supreme Court said, 'Let the government just pass on the information of account holders to us, we will pass orders for further probe.'
This is worrying the finance ministry too, the lawyer felt.
The Supreme Court said a few sharp things to the government which suggests that it has no faith in the government's investigation process, which is very slow and tardy.
'Why are you providing a protective umbrella to the foreign bank account holders?' the judges asked.
To face such a question from the highest court in the land is a huge embarrassment because one of the Bharatiya Janata Party's election planks was the United Progressive Alliance's corruption, and so early in its tenure the court was actually asking it, 'Why are you protecting the corrupt?'
The setback to the Modi government in court implies that the BJP government's stance over the black money accounts has changed after coming to power. The legal case has exposed the government's political manipulations.
The three-judge bench directed the Centre to place before it the names of all such account-holders by Wednesday, October 29.
The Supreme Court, while hearing the case related to black money held secretly in Swiss bank accounts, has not only exposed the government's intentions, which can be defended, but the problem is the court also questioned the government's credibility. This is a severe blow to the government.
Moreover, the court was unambiguous in its criticism. Expressing distrust in the investigating pace, it said, 'We can't leave the issue of bringing back black money to the government. It will never happen during our time.'
The government's plea was to review the court's earlier order where it said that the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement was not binding on revealing the account holders' names. On Tuesday, the court said categorically that it won't change even a word of its earlier order. This is not just harsh, it is humiliating for the Modi government.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, image, top, had to clarify after great effort that, 'There is nobody the government wants to protect in this case, so those whose names have come out must really be investigated and punished according to law.'
After the order, when he agreed to give all the names of black money account-holders to the Supreme Court in a sealed cover on Wednesday, Jaitley remained silent on the issue of making it public.
Some must-reads on the black money issue from Rediff.com:
