SC to be blamed for economic slowdown: Harish Salve

Eminent Supreme Court lawyer Harish Salve has blamed the apex court for the ongoing economic slowdown in the country in a conversation with Indira Jaising for 'The Leaflet'. Besides the apex court, he also held the flawed implementation of the controversial demonetisation (implemented on November 8, 2016) for the current woeful economic condition of the nation. And to add to the list of controversially sharp remarks, he even said that the Income-Tax Department is carrying out the agendas of Parliament.

"I squarely blame the Supreme Court. I can understand holding people responsible for the wrong distribution of licenses in 2G… Blanket cancellation of licenses where foreigners are investing… see when a foreigner invested it was your rule which said he must have an Indian partner," he said before going on to add that the foreigner was unaware of India's licensing system. "Foreigners invested billions of dollars, and with one stroke of the pen, the Supreme Court knocked all of them out. That’s when the decline of the economy began," he further said.

He launched a scathing attack on the Income-Tax department, raising the question about the method and transparency of their function. "So you are looking at risk. You are willing to gamble at 25 percent. You won’t gamble at 15 percent. So what does Café Coffee Day have to do? Whom do you blame? You blame the uncertainty, and two elements have created uncertainty. One is the executive government, the way your Enforcement Directorate (ED), your Income Tax Department work," he said while describing the problems posed by the Enforcement Directorate and I-T Department.

He gave the example of the 2017 Vodafone tax case, explaining that people had confidence in the courts' ability to deliver justice while facing problems from the I-T department. But the Vodafone case destroyed the confidence people had while highlighting that I-T Department's motive to set agenda for the Parliament (in 2012, SC said Vodafone acted ‘within the four corners of law’).

Salve blamed demonetisation as one of the factors for the economic slowdown. In his opinion, even though demonetisation was not a bad measure, it's implementation affected India's economy heavily. However, he had one good thing to say, "The good which has come out of it is that a large number of bogus companies have been exposed and there is a lot of cleanup going on, so some good has come out of it."