New Delhi, April 21 (IANS) The Supreme Court Thursday sought the central government's response to its suggestion for setting up a special investigation team (SIT) with experts from various agencies to probe black money stashed away in tax havens abroad.

The apex court bench of Justice B. Sudarshan Reddy and Justice S.S. Nijjar also indicated it was inclined to appoint a retired judge or a chief justice to supervise the SIT investigation.

The court said the setting up of the SIT was imperative even in view of the difficulties expressed by the Enforcement Directorate in its various status reports to the court.

The proposed SIT will have officials from the ED, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Intelligence Bureau (IB), Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), police, and the ministries of home and external affairs.

The court was not inclined to accept the central government's suggestion to segregate investigation into money laundering cases.

The court's observation came during the hearing of a petition filed by eminent jurist Ram Jethmalani seeking directions to the central government to bring back billions of dollars of black money stashed abroad.