India’s Supreme Court appoints team to probe black money

The latest twist in the soap opera of Indian politics ("As the Wheel Greases"? "Days of Our Lies?" "The Gnarled and the Shameless?"), the Supreme Court on Monday slammed the government's lackadaisical efforts to track down so-called "black money" stashed in foreign bank accounts and set up its own investigation team.

According to the Times of India, the Supreme Court named retired SC judge Justice B P Jeevan Reddy to head a special investigation team tasked with recovering black money.

"The amount of unaccounted monies held abroad is massive. The named individuals were very much present in the country. Yet, for unknown, and possibly unknowable though easily surmisable, reasons the investigations into the matter proceeded at a laggardly pace. Even the named individuals had not yet been questioned with any degree of seriousness," said Justice Reddy, who wrote the order. 

The bench said, these are serious lapses, especially when viewed from the perspective of larger issues of security, both internal and external of the country."

For more on the Supreme Court vs. the Government, check out my earlier article here.