Flaying the government for failing to crack the whip on black money hoarders, the Supreme Court on Thursday ordered reinstatement of three key Enforcement Directorate officials, who were allegedly transferred midway into the probe in a case of Fema violations by Pune businessman Hasan Ali.
A bench headed by Justice B Sudershan Reddy indicated that if the government failed to act, it would be compelled to appoint a special officer for supervising the probe against the offenders.
It is alleged that the officer who was exposed to Hasan Ali was being prosecuted and denied a promotion. He has approached CAT and has mentioned the wrongdoings during the investigations.
It then said it was very unfortunate that the three key officials of ED investigating the black money scandal have been abruptly transferred midway into the investigation.
The judges granted time till Tuesday to the Centre to file its response failing which it said the court would be constrained to pass necessary orders.
The court suggested the government to to do custodial interrogation of people about whom it had the requisite information under the supervision of an officer appointed by the court.
?The names are with you. We want the investigating agencies to act in a way they would deal with ordinary crimes. Here it seems, the bigger the dimension, the greater the privileges. They seem to be a pampered lot. We want our agencies to be strong… The matter is very serious. We don?t want any delay.?
Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium assured the court that the government would look into the issue. He told the court that the directorate will also look into the tax evasion issue and would file a comprehensive report.