Seizure of Illegal Assets
In the searches conducted by the Income Tax Department during F.Ys 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 (up to December, 2012), unexplained assets of about Rs. 963.50 crore, Rs.774.98 crore, Rs. 905.60 crore and Rs.453.54 crore, respectively were seized.
Seizure of unexplained assets itself does not lead to launching of prosecution under the Income-tax Act, 1961 (Act). Evidences gathered during the course of search and seizure actions including the unexplained assets seized, as also during the post-search enquiries are used, inter alia, for making assessment of total income following the quasi-judicial process prescribed in the Act. Chapter XXII of the Act provides for offences and prosecutions. Prosecutions are launched in appropriate cases on satisfaction of the conditions prescribed in the Act.
Out of 1548 prosecution cases decided during the during F.Ys 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, the number of convictions and cases compounded together accounts for 868 which indicates a fairly good success rate in respect of prosecutions under the Act. With a view to make further improvements in this regard, various measures have been taken including introduction of enabling provisions for Special Courts and Special Public Prosecutors by the Finance Act, 2012.
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