Daijiworld Media Network

New Delhi, Jul 4: A high-level committee has been elevated to a special investigative team (SIT) by the Supreme Court on Monday July 4 empowering it to become more effective in order to probe illegal money stashed away by Indian citizens in foreign banks.

Two former judges Jeevan Reddy and M B Shah have been appointed to head the team as chairman and vice chairman respectively. This way the court too will be kept updated about the SIT's develoments.

The committee comprises of the revenue secretary, deputy director of Reserve Bank of India, chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes, director general of Revenue Intelligence, director general of Narcotics Control, director of foreign Intelligence Office, joint secretary of Foreign Trade and the directors of the Central Bureau of Investigation, Intelligence Bureau and Enforcement Directorate.

The government has been ordered to pass a notification to formalize the appointment of the SIT.

The court has also added the director of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) to the newly-created SIT.

Information relating to the names of bank account holders will be disclosed only if the investigators have a reason to doubt the acount holder, the court said. As a part of their right to privacy, only individuals with show cause notices will be made known to the public, the identities of the rest will be withheld.

The court had critisized the government regarding the slow investigation process while at the same time clarified that it was the court's duty to hear such petitions in public interest.

The order has been passed based on a petition filed by jurist Ram Jethmalani and others in order to track the black money stashed in foreign banks back to the country.