The Special Investigation Team, SIT on black money has recommended to the Centre to raise the cash holding limit from rupees twenty lakhs to rupees one crore.

Mr. Justice (retired) M B Shah, who heads the SIT formed on the directions of Supreme Court, told PTI in Ahmedabad that they had recommended that the amount above the cash holding limit of rupees one crore should go to the government.

As per the existing rules, an offender can retrieve the seized cash by paying 40 per cent income tax and penalty. STI’s recommendations have come after huge amounts of cash were seized in recent search operations by tax authorities.

The Income Tax sleuths searched over 20 premises of a firm engaged in highway construction in Tamil Nadu on last Monday and seized rupees 160 crore besides 100 kilograms of gold.

Mr. Justice Shah said, that in view of the amount of money being seized is very high the limit of cash holding had to be raised from rupees 20 lakhs to rupees one crore.