163 Black Money Act probes conducted in 9 years

The Centre told Parliament that details of specific assesses against whom action has been taken cannot be disclosed under the provisions of the Income Tax Act.

Updated on: Aug 7, 2024, 01:24:22 IST

By Neeraj Chauhan , New Delhi

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In the last nine years, there have been 163 investigations and assessment orders passed in 652 cases raising an aggregate demand of ₹17,162 crore under the Black Money Act, the Centre informed Parliament on Tuesday.

Sharing data of the last five years, the minister said 109 prosecutions were launched between 2019-20 and 2023-24. (File)

It added that details of specific assesses against whom action has been taken cannot be disclosed under the provisions of the Income Tax Act.

In a written reply, Union minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in Rajya Sabha: “As on March 31, 2024, orders u/s 10(3)/10(4) of the Act have been passed in about 652 cases raising demand of more than ₹17,162 crores (approximately) and 163 prosecutions have been launched.”

Sharing data of the last five years, the minister said 109 prosecutions were launched between 2019-20 and 2023-24.

The Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act was brought by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in July 2015 to deal with the issue of black money stashed abroad and wilful evasion of tax in relation to such income/assets. The government had also formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money.

When the law was brought, a one-time opportunity was given to voluntarily disclose the undisclosed foreign income or assets.

According to the data shared by Chaudhary on Tuesday in Rajya Sabha, 648 disclosures involving undisclosed foreign assets worth ₹4,164 crores were made in the one-time three month-long compliance window between July 1, 2015 and September 30, 2015. “The amount collected by way of tax and penalty in such cases was about ₹2,476 crore,” he added.

In a separate reply pertaining to money laundering probes, Chaudhary informed the upper house that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has till July 31 this year filed total 7,083 cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The financial crimes probe agency has till July 31 attached properties worth ₹1.31 lakh crore under PMLA.

On the number of cases registered by ED in the last six years, the minister replied that between January 1, 2019, and July 31 this year, 4,467 PMLA cases were filed. In these six years, charge sheets have been filed in 831 cases.

Responding to a question on charge sheets filed against private companies, Chaudhary said ED has filed charge sheets against 1,519 companies under PMLA since January 1, 2019.

PMLA, enacted in 2002, was implemented on July 1, 2005. It gives immense powers to the ED to record statements of individuals and use the same against them to file a charge sheet.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Chauhan
Neeraj Chauhan is a senior journalist with Hindustan Times and an investigative reporter specialising in national security, terrorism, organised crime, narcotics, corruption, financial crime and complex investigations. With over 21 years of experience across Hindustan Times, The Times of India, The Indian Express and The Pioneer, he has built deep expertise in India’s internal security and law-enforcement landscape. Neeraj has extensively covered India’s principal investigative, intelligence and security agencies, including the NIA, CBI, ED, IB, R&AW, MHA and other central security forces. His work has included deeply reported investigations into terrorism, terror financing, cross-border crime, narcotics trafficking, cybercrime, financial fraud and political and corporate corruption. He has reported on some of the most significant terror attacks and security developments in India over the past two decades, including the Delhi serial blasts, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, the 2019 Pulwama terror attack and the recent Pahalgam attack. His reporting has also chronicled the rise and decline of the Indian Mujahideen, the activities and subsequent crackdown on the Popular Front of India (PFI), Islamist extremist networks, the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir, insurgencies in the Northeast and Maoist violence. Some of Neeraj’s major breaking stories are in Aryan Khan drug case, Sushant Singh Rajput suicide, interception of a 3,000-kg Afghan heroin consignment worth about ₹21,000 crore at Mundra port, Sri Lanka easter bombings, Aarushi-Hemraj murders in Noida, 2G scam, coal block allocation scam, AgustWestland VVIP chopper deal and major bank frauds and extradition cases involving Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya. His reporting is marked by an ability to cultivate sources, analyse confidential and complex documents, and follow investigations over several years—from the initial breakthrough to chargesheets, trials and international legal proceedings. He specialises in making complicated security and investigative developments accessible while examining their wider implications for governance and public policy. A Chevening South Asia Journalism Programme Fellow at the University of Westminster, Neeraj also spent time at the Financial Times as part of the fellowship. He was also a Robert Bosch Media Ambassadors India-Germany Fellow, studying at the University of Tübingen and working with Der Tagesspiegel in Berlin. He has previously taught investigative journalism and crime reporting as a guest faculty member at the Times School of Journalism. Over more than two decades, Neeraj has established himself as an authoritative voice on India’s national security and investigative landscape, with his reporting closely followed by officials, investigators, lawyers, policymakers and readers seeking insight into some of the country’s most complex and consequential developments.Read More