The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the Income-Tax department to complete its ongoing probe against 627 Indians — suspected to have invested black money in HSBC bank, Geneva — by March next year.
A special bench headed by Chief Justice HL Dattu said if the probe remains inconclusive then the Centre must decide to extend the deadline of March 31, 2015.
Under the Income-Tax Act the department is bound to complete the probe by then or else the complaint becomes time-barred.
The bench further asked the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to consider the plea of senior advocate and case petitioner Ram Jethmalani to furnish him certain information and correspondences without “blackening” the contents.
Jethmalani told the bench that UPA government’s solicitor general Mohan Parasaran had supplied him some letters and documents with masked portions. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said the government had no objections to Jethmalani getting the copies. “We are aware of it and there would not be any problem as now the prosecution for tax evasion can be initiated upto 16 years of commission of the offence,” he said.
The bench, which posted the next hearing for January 20, said for all his grievances, Jethmalani can approach the SIT that shall consider his plea.
{{/usCountry}}The bench, which posted the next hearing for January 20, said for all his grievances, Jethmalani can approach the SIT that shall consider his plea.
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