The Finance Ministry has said that no counterfeit currency was seized by any of its agencies during searches conducted between November 8 and December 30. In a written response to questions posed by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, which is looking into demonetisation and its impact on monetary policy, the Ministry said an amount of ₹474.37 crore was seized by the Central Board of Excise and Customs during nationwide raids conducted by the Income Tax Department between November 8 and January 4. Of this, ₹112.29 crore was new denomination currency and the remainder of ₹362.08 crore was old/cancelled tender, it said.

“There is no information on whether the persons from whom the cash seizures were made were terrorist groups or smugglers or spies,” the Ministry said in its response.

In comparison to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, there was a 136 per cent increase in the number of groups searched, a 100 per cent increase in the seizure of valuables, and a 51 per cent increase in undisclosed income, it said.

The biggest seizure came from Chennai (₹153.88 crore), followed by Delhi (₹72.43 crore) and Pune (₹43.14 crore).

While ₹37.63 crore of the currency seized in Chennai consisted of new notes, the figure for Bengaluru stood at ₹22.51 crore.

Though the Enforcement Directorate carried out searches in 67 locations, it could seize just ₹3 crore of old Indian currency and foreign currency worth ₹1.7 crore.

The ministry has claimed that after demonetisation, tax collections would will “surely improve” over a long period of time.

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