‘Rs 997.19 crore was seized during demonetisation’

Mumbai: A reply received under the Right To Information (RTI) act from the union finance ministry revealed that only Rs 997.19 crore were seized during Financial Year (FY) 2017-18 under its Operation Clean Money. The drive was launched on January 31, 2017 by Union government. The information received by a RTI activist also showed that the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) could conduct survey at only 11,120 places in FY 2017-18. With this information, the RTI activist has raised question over the purpose of demonetisation.

RTI activist Jeetendra Ghadge has asked for information regarding actions taken during ‘Operation Clean Money’ by the union government. According to the press release of finance ministry on August 30, 2017 nearly Rs 2.89 lakh crore cash deposited in banks by 1.33 million accounts were under scrutiny. From November 2016 to May 2017, Rs 17,526 crore of undisclosed income was detected and Rs 1003 crore were seized.

Reply to RTI query revealed that, only Rs 997.19 crore were seized in search and action during FY 2017-18. It also revealed that no arrest had been made or no FIR had been registered against individuals caught dealing with black money under Income-tax Act, 1961.

Mr Ghadge said “Although the press release by the finance ministry try hard to showcase the successes of demonetisation by giving numbers of potential cases of black money, but when it comes reality, as per the RTI information, no substantial action have been taken by the Government; Rs 997 crore is not even a drop in the ocean of black money.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced decision of demonetisation on November 8, 2018 claiming it as a decisive war against black money and all the dubious businesses that runs on it. The decision had struck a major debate across the country and this new information would add to this debate.