‘Higher cash seizures are being recorded by I-T department every Assembly polls’

New Delhi: Nitin Gupta, the Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), has revealed a significant increase in cash seizures by the Income-tax department during recent Assembly elections compared to previous years.

He said that the department is investigating these cases, along with other instances of large, unaccounted cash and jewelry unearthed during raids and enforcement actions.

Speaking specifically about cash seizures during Assembly elections, Gupta highlighted a noteworthy surge compared to the same period five years ago. He highlighted that these cash seizures have consistently been substantial during every Assembly election.

The Election Commission has also spoken about the surge in the seizure of cash and illegal inducements during various state polls.

The poll panel, in an official statement issued in November last year, had declared that there has been a “significant and exponential increase” in seizures during polls in five states of Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Telangana.

More than Rs 1,760 crore worth of freebies that includes cash, jewellery, narcotics, liquor and some other items were seized in these five states, which is more than seven times (Rs 239.15 crore) the seizures made in previous Assembly elections in these states in 2018, the EC had said.

According to Income-tax department sources, the tax personnel found that seizure of cash during all the Assembly polls held in 2023 was more than two times higher than the corresponding period of 2018.

Similarly, cash seizures made during Assembly elections held in 2022 was six times higher than the comparative period of 2017.

If jewellery is added to this cash amount recorded by the tax department, then the seizures for 2023 are three-times higher than 2018 and similarly seven times higher during the 2022 vs 2017 comparative period, the sources said.

According to official data, Assembly polls were held in Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoram and Telangana in 2023.

In 2022, Assembly elections were held in Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat.