Supreme Court issues notice to Centre on black-money case

New Delhi, Sep 29(NI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a notice to the Centre in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by former Law Minister and reputed jurist Ram Jethmalani and five others, who had alleged that the Government was not taking appropriate action in bringing back black money deposited by rich Indians in Swiss and other foreign banks.

According to reports, the notice sought disclosure of certain vital documents relating to the issue.

Various political parties have claimed that Indians have stashed away huge sums in secret bank accounts in Switzerland.

Earlier, the Centre had assured the apex court that it was doing its level best to retrieve the amount of over Rs. 70 lakh crore in black money believed to be stored in foreign banks by rich Indians.

In a affidavit, the government had even claimed that the lawsuit filed against it was "politically motivated" and had also sought the dismissal of the PIL filed by Jethmalani and others, who have been seeking court's direction to the government to bring back the black money.

The Swiss banks are said to have the highest deposits by Indians. This fact was exposed after Swiss banks were forced by the US and other Western countries to disclose the details of their nationals who maintain accounts with them.

The issue was earlier been raked up by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who have demanded an immediate action to bring back the naccounted money from the foreign banks. (ANI)