The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed Delhi High Court order where it had stayed the Centre’s circular to let the 2016 black money law to operate with retrospective effect from July, 2015.

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and MR Shah was acting on the plea filed by Centre challenging a Delhi High Court order, which ruled that the black money law can’t have a retrospective effect.

Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta had mentioned the matter before the court yesterday saying the Delhi HC order would have wide ramifications on several cases pending before courts.

The High Court on May 16 had passed the order deterring the government and the Income Tax (IT) Department from conducting any penal action against advocate Gautam Khaitan under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015.

Khaitan had challenged his arrest in the High Court saying that Centre’s notification, which stated the Act would come into force from July 1, 2015, instead of April 1, 2016 was ultra vires.

—India Legal Bureau