Almost four months after giving clean chit to the
former Chief Justice of India, K.G. Balakrishnan, in ‘benami’ property
transactions involving his relatives, the Supreme Court on Monday asked
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi to submit a detailed chart of Income Tax
assessments and orders concerning the former top judge’s family members.
A
Bench led by Justice Dipak Misra sought the income details of Justice
(retired) Balakrishnan's relatives despite Mr. Rohatgi's submissions
that they were individual assesses who had already been subjected to
Income Tax screening.
But the Bench insisted, asking
Mr. Rohatgi to hand over to the court the necessary details “regardless”
of any such screenings in the past. The case was then posted for
hearing to July 12.
The period under scanner concerns
Justice Balakrishnan’s tenure as Chief Justice of India between January
2007 and May 2010. He later went on to complete a five-year tenure as
the National Human Rights Commission Chairperson in May last year.
‘Dangerous precedent’
In November 2015, Mr. Rohatgi argued that enquiries against a former CJI would set a “very dangerous precedent”.
However
the court had been sceptical. Justice Misra had remarked that if a
person who earns Rs. 100 buys properties worth Rs. 10 lakh, the source
of the money should be investigated.”
Source: The Hindu
No comments:
Post a Comment