New Delhi:
The Supreme Court today slammed the Centre for failing to bring back black money stashed in foreign banks for over six decades, saying that kind of money would have pushed up India's income.
The court also rejected the government's petition against a Special Investigation Team into black money.
"For 65 years, no government took any action, so the Supreme Court had to step in to retrieve black money," the court said.
"Had the money been in circulation in India, our per capita income would have gone up and taxes would have been reduced. 30 per cent of income tax being paid by us show how much was it important for the government to retrieve black money stashed in foreign banks."
The Supreme Court had in 2011 ordered a Special Investigation Team of two retired judges as part of an effort to bring back money in secret bank accounts. Berating the government for resisting it, the court today said, "Let us see the SIT do things this country is dreaming of."
The government had argued that a mechanism was already in place to deal with tax evasion and black money.
The court's stern words led to a political war of words over black money today.
The BJP accused the government of resisting a probe because any revelation would shame them.
"Even small countries like South Korea and Philippines are doing all they can to unearth black money," said BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad. "Our government does not want to unearth black money because it will cause them shame."