Narendra Modi government constitutes SIT to unearth black money

Prodded in part by the Supreme Court's diktat to the Centre to form such an investigation panel to tackle the black money menace and in part by its election manifesto that promised tough action on this front, the cabinet has formed a multi-disciplinary team of experts and top officials to be led by retired Supreme CourtJustice MB Shah with another of his peers Arijit Pasayat appointed as the vice chairperson.

Telecom and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the SIT will also include the Revenue Secretary, the chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes, a deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India, the director general of Revenue Intelligence and the directors of sleuth agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation, Intelligence Bureau, Enforcement Directorate, Financial Intelligence Unit and RAW.

"It is a matter of great satisfaction for us that in the very first meeting of the cabinet chaired by the honourable PM, we have set up this SIT... There was some delay on this front and the Supreme Court had set a deadline for this which ends tomorrow," Prasad told reporters after the cabinet meeting.

"This indicates the commitment of the new government to pursue the issue of black money in the right earnest," the law minister said, reiterating the party's stated position against black money in recent years that was also highlighted in the recent Lok Sabha election campaign.

The BJP's election manifesto had said that if it was elected to power, the party would minimise the scope for corruption to curb the generation of black money and initiate the process of tracking down and bringing back black money stashed in foreign banks and offshore accounts. It had also promised to set up a task force to tackle the menace and overhaul existing laws to that effect.

The SIT, an official statement said, has been charged with the responsibility and duties of investigation, initiation of proceedings and prosecution in cases of Hasan Ali and other matters involving unaccounted money. The team would have jurisdiction in cases where investigations have either already commenced or been completed or await initiation.