Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday revealed that based on the information received from banks, about 1.5 lakh depositors deposited a total of ₹5 lakh crore in bank accounts after the demonetisation move on November 8, 2016.
Responding to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s remarks about the alleged failure of the note-ban — he termed it a scheme to convert black money into white — Prasad said Singh had not done his homework before making “such irresponsible comments”.
“The former Prime Minister doesn’t do proper homework. Every deposit that was made after demonetisation was tracked. After demonetisation, 1.5 lakh people deposited ₹5 lakh crore. Investigation is under way on these accounts and action will be taken,” he told media persons here.
According to an RBI report, the estimated value of the banned notes received stood at ₹15.28 lakh crore, out of ₹15.44 lakh crore that was in circulation as on November 8, 2016.
Singh has often raised questions on the demonetisation decision. “After demonetisation, 99 per cent of the demonetised currency returned to banks. It is clear that all the black money got converted to white and corruption continues to flourish,” he had said in Rajkot earlier in the day.
Prasad termed the government's move a surgical strike on shell companies as 2.24 lakh companies were struck off. “Many of these companies were found to have more than 100 accounts and have deposited and withdrawn large amounts of during demonetisation,” he said.