91 lakh people have come under tax net post note ban: Jaitley

May 16, 2017

New Delhi, May 16: The government on Tuesday added a new dimension to its fight against black money in the country as it launched a website ' Operation Clean Money '.

"The new website will help honest tax payers," Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said inaugurating the website.

Jaitley warned those dealing in black money and said "It is no longer safe to deal with excessive cash, tax-evaded money."

The finance minister said the fallout of the November 8 decision to demonetise higher denomination currency has increased movement towards digitisation, number of assessees going up and tax revenue jumping as also fear of dealing in cash being installed.

Stating that as many as 91 lakh persons have come under the tax net, Jaitley said he expects further increase in tax returns going ahead.

Post demonetisation, there has been a hike in collection of personal income tax, the finance minister said, adding that the new portal will help honest tax payer.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes chairman said "Undisclosed income of Rs 16,398 crore has been identified post demonetisation." Chairman Sushil Chandra also said there was 22 per cent growth in e-filed returns post demonetisation. As many as 17.92 lakh people were identified for unexplained deposits post demonetisation, he said, adding the tax department has identified one lakh suspected tax avoidance cases.

"We identified around 17.92 lakh persons in whose case the cash transactions did not appear in line with the taxpayers' profiles. And online verifications of these transactions are underway," Chandra said.

Of the 17.92 lakh, so far 9.72 lakh individuals responded to SMSes and e-mails sent by the income tax department.

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Over 58 lakh names dropped from draft voter list in Bengal ahead of polls

News Network

December 16,2025

The deletion of over 58 lakh names from West Bengal’s draft electoral rolls following a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has sparked widespread concern and is likely to deepen political tensions in the poll-bound state.

According to the Election Commission, the revision exercise has identified 24 lakh voters as deceased, 19 lakh as relocated, 12 lakh as missing, and 1.3 lakh as duplicate entries. The draft list, published after the completion of the first phase of SIR, aims to remove errors and duplication from the electoral rolls.

However, the scale of deletions has raised fears that a large number of eligible voters may have been wrongly excluded. The Election Commission has said that individuals whose names are missing can file objections and seek corrections. The final voter list is scheduled to be published in February next year, after which the Assembly election announcement is expected. Notably, the last Special Intensive Revision in Bengal was conducted in 2002.

The development has intensified the political row over the SIR process. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress have strongly opposed the exercise, accusing the Centre and the Election Commission of attempting to disenfranchise lakhs of voters ahead of the elections.

Addressing a rally in Krishnanagar earlier this month, Banerjee urged people to protest if their names were removed from the voter list, alleging intimidation during elections and warning of serious consequences if voting rights were taken away.

The BJP, meanwhile, has defended the revision and accused the Trinamool Congress of politicising the issue to protect what it claims is an illegal voter base. Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari alleged that the ruling party fears losing power due to the removal of deceased, fake, and illegal voters.

The controversy comes amid earlier allegations by the Trinamool Congress that excessive work pressure during the SIR led to the deaths by suicide of some Booth Level Officers (BLOs), for which the party blamed the Election Commission. With the draft list now out, another round of political confrontation appears imminent.

As objections begin to be filed, the focus will be on whether the correction mechanism is accessible, transparent, and timely—critical factors in ensuring that no eligible voter is denied their democratic right ahead of a crucial election.

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