An amount of Rs 351 crore seized from Dhiraj Sahu

Raiding agency has to prove culpability of the accused

If not, the money is returned to the accused

Congress MP Dhiraj Sahu is in the news as the Income Tax department is raiding his house. The organisation has seized Rs 351 crore. 

But have you ever racked your brains as to what happens to the money confiscated? 

Well, when cash is seized, the accused gets the right to defend his means of earning. If it is satisfactory, the money is returned to him. If not, officials of the SBI are called and tasked to count. They count it in terms of different denominations like Rs 50, Rs 100 etc and put them in different boxes. We should note that independent witnesses have to be summoned to view this act. 

Later, the money is taken to an SBI branch. There, it is deposited in government’s treasury. 

The raiding agency has to prove the criminality of the accused in a matter of 180 days. In the event of not doing so, the stash has to be returned to the accused. 

In the meantime, as the matter would be sub-judice, the money can’t be spent. If the agency proves the culpability of the accused in a court of law, it becomes an asset of the government. If not, the money is returned to the accused. 

In the event of the stash becoming government property, there are a number of ways in which it can spend it like infrastructure, inter alia.