SIT To Unearth Black Money Formed: SC Directive Yields Results
SIT To Unearth Black Money Formed: SC Directive Yields Results
In another instance of the power that the apex court has wielded to stop the growing threat of corruption in India, the SC directive for a special investigative team to trace black money has taken shape. The first Cabinet meeting itself has been productive where black money is concerned. The SIT will be headed by a retired Supreme Court justice M. B. Shah and it will take active routes to unearth black money.
The decision pertaining to the SIT is in accordance with the SC directive for taking steps to counter black money. The vice chairman of the SIT is another former judge of the Supreme Court, Arijit Pasayat. The revenue secretaries of the IB, RAW, CBI, ED and the CBDT chairman will also assist in the process along with an RBI deputy governor. The SC had given the government a week to set up the SIT.
Law and telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has discussed how corruption is a menace that needs to be tackled. The SIT will be aiding in investigation, initiation of proceedings and prosecution in cases of black or unaccounted money.
Other important members of the SIT include the director general of the NCB, director general of Revenue Intelligence, director of Financial Intelligence Unit, director of RAW and the joint secretary in the CBDT.
The SIT is also aiming to work out a well detailed and comprehensive action plan for putting together institutional structures for fighting in the case of black money. There will be reports on the status of work on a regular basis.
In the year 2012, the then CBI director Amar Pratap Singh had estimated that $500 billion or nearly 29.5 lakh crore of black money from India is stashed in froeign haven. Recently, the names of 26 Indians with black money stashed abroad had been released.
The SIT will now have jurisidiction in cases where investigations are still underway or undergoing pending. SIT can also revisit cases where the proble has been finished. In other words, it can reopen past cases.
The issue of black money had been of the prime topics on which the recently concluded Lok Sabha 2014 elections had been fought. Anti-corruption has always been a pressing need in India. With dismal rankings in international perception of corruption indices such as the one by Transparency International, India must take proactive steps if it has to escape the tag of being a corrupt nation.
Business prospers only if ethical practices are followed. If there is transparency and bribery is eliminated, India will become a very easy place to do business. With opaque laws and lack of accountability, corruption has become a common occurence in India.
What needs to change is the mindset as well. People need to have the right attitude towards tackling the menace of corruption. Apart from this, bodies such as SIT will now intiate proceedings against those stashing black money. The SIT has the duty to the people who have voted for the new government. It should aim to catch offenders regardless of their position, rank, wealth or status in society. This will set right the injustices that have been prevalent and prevent corruption from growing in the country.
