3787 IT raids in five years result in 29 convictions
18 cases saw acquittals, Rs 5890 Cr assets seized
Strange it may sound but true. The Income Tax department undertook search & seizure operations on as many as 3787 groups during the past five years across the country. It launched prosecution in only 50% of cases, 1956 to be precise. But this is not all.
The department could obtain convictions only in 29 cases between April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2022. And this is not all. In 18 cases the acquittal orders were passed by courts during the same five year period.
The figures disclosed officially by the Union Finance Ministry gave an insight into the outcome of the five years vigorous pursuit of fight against corruption and concealment of income by corporate and groups.
For example, during 2017-18 the IT department launched prosecution in 560 cases and obtained conviction in 23 cases. But next year, it drew a big zero after launching prosecution against 771 entities. Rather, 5 acquittals were given. The number continued to fall thereafter in which prosecution cases were launched. In 2019-20, prosecutions were launched against 365 companies while next year saw a huge dip with 145 and 2021-22 saw further downward journey with 115 cases.
There are as many as 6899 cases still pending as on March 31, 2022. Of course, the IT department seized assets worth Rs 5890 crores during the past five years.
The government gave this information in response to a question in Rajya Sabha asked by Digvijay Singh.
