The over Rs 200 crore cash recovered from perfume producer Piyush Jain is not BJP money, according to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who also justified the timing of the tax raids, saying they were based on actionable intelligence. 

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She told reporters following the GST Council meeting that law enforcement authorities execute raids based on actionable intelligence.

When asked about the opposition’s claim that the Rs 197.49 crore cash recovered from perfume maker Peeyush Jain in UP’s Kannauj was her party’s money and that the tax authorities raided the person by “mistake” and are now raiding the other Jain they had originally wanted to target, she said, “It is not BJP money.”

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As she attempted to defend the raids, she stated that former chief minister Akhliesh Yadav was “shaken.”

“How do you know whose money is it? Are you his partner? Because only partners know whose money is kept,” she said.

She inquired if the raiding parties arrived empty handed, dismissing the opposition’s claim that the raids were politically motivated.

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Money recovered proves there was actionable intelligence, she said, adding that the raids on Friday were also based on such information.

Piyush Jain was detained for failing to pay the Goods and Services Tax (GST). At his residence and workshop in Kannauj, officials discovered Rs. 194 crore in cash and 23 kg of gold. 

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Last week, photos of a raid on his facilities went viral, showing officials using note counting devices to tally the stacks of cash bills. It was the largest cash seizure the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has made in its history (CBIC).

After being arrested under Section 132 of the CGST Act, Jain was remanded in judicial prison for 14 days by a local court on Monday.