Demonetization: The secret behind a ₹2 lakh crore income

The Income Tax department has rejected an astonishing Rs 2 lakh crore disclosure by a Mumbai family as well as the controversial Rs 13,860 crore by an Ahmedabad businessman under the Income Disclosure Scheme that closed in September, and a probe is on against them to determine the intention behind their false claims.

A family of four declarants namely, Abdul Razzaque Mohammed Sayed (self), Mohammed Aarif Abdul Razzaque Sayed (son), Rukhsana Abdul Razzaque Sayed (wife) and Noorjahan Mohammed Sayed (sister), who were shown as residents of Flat no. 4, Ground Floor, Jubilee Court, 269-B, T.P.S-III, Linking Road, Bandra (W), Mumbai, filed a total declaration of Rs 2 lakh crore, it said.

The other declaration was filed by one Mahesh Kumar Champaklal Shah resident of 206, MangalJyot Tower, Jodhpur Gram Satellite, Ahmedabad for Rs 13,860 crore.

"Among the declarations received, there were two sets of declarations of high value which were not taken on record in the above figure because these declarations were found to be suspicious in nature being filed by persons of small means," the Finance Ministry said in a statement today.

"Therefore, after due consideration, the Income Tax Department decided by 30th November 2016, to reject these two sets of declarations of Rs 2 lakh crore and Rs 13,860 crore respectively. The Department has since commenced enquiries against these declarants to determine the intention behind these false declarations," it added.

Abdul Sayed's declaration of Rs 2 lakh crore may be a mere clerical error. But even if we take his declaration at face value, it automatically makes him the richest man in India. 

What does 13,000 crores in cash even mean? Or how about 2 lakh crore? These amounts are beyond mere cash. As cash they are meaningless. What can you buy for 13,000 crores in cash? You would have to spend a crore a day, in cash, before you get rid of it. And that is assuming you do nothing else. 

This is not 'cash', this is wealth. Wealth which generates factories and townships, wealth which buys aircraft carriers and millions of rifles, wealth which can buy whole mountains and gas fields and the machinery required to mine them. 

Now both of these men have been quiet about why they are making such fantastic claims. But it is not that hard to guess. Whatever the exact amount, clearly both of them are fronts for a vast number of people. 100 persons, each of whom has stolen a 1000 crore perhaps? 

Whatever the exact amount or an exact number of backers, what becomes obvious is that this is not mere theft. This is not simply stuffing a few notes under the table or evasion of taxation. 

This is the bleeding white of the wealth of the nation. Wealth that could have been used to uplift millions. 

Demonetization has caused many deaths and hardships, but on the brighter side, at least it is revealing truths like this. 

• Demonetization
• Cash
• Corruption