E-Paper
MC names Congress, socio-religious bodies in latest list of property tax defaulters
Mother Teresa Home in Sector 23 top defaulter with dues totalling Rs 69 lakh.
Socio-religious, central government offices and political organisations, including the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), owe the municipal corporation more than Rs 1.81 crore as property tax dues.
Issuing notices for tax not paid for 2019-2020, the civic body has directed Mother Teresa Home in Sector 23, which is the top defaulter, to clear dues of Rs 69 lakh and PPCC to pay around Rs 10 lakh.
The latest list of organisations with property tax dues also includes the ministry of corporate affairs’ Corporate Bhawan in Sector 27 with arrears amounting to around Rs 29 lakh.
The other socio-religious organisations on the list include the Jai Jai Charitable Trust, Sector 44-C (Rs 30 lakh), Kalgi Dhar Niwas, Sector 27-B (Rs 23 lakh), Munni Ji Sabha, Sector 24 (Rs 66,000), Sanatan Dharam Mandir, Sector 28-B (Rs 51,000) and Sivanda Ashram, Sector 29 ( Rs 43,000).
When contacted, an official of the Mother Teresa Home refused to comment on the issue.
An official of the Kalgi Dhar Niwas, who didn’t want to be named, said, “We have received the notice and raised objections with the MC commissioner. We have requested for exemption, as we are a non-profit organisation. A case on similar lines is also pending before the Punjab and Haryana high court.”
Commenting on the non-payment of property tax by several socio-religious organisations, an MC official said, “Most of these bodies have submitted the plea that they are non-profit religious organisations and should be exempted from paying property tax. While some have approached the high court, others have submitted objections to the MC commissioner. Meanwhile, the unpaid tax for successive years keeps on accumulating with penalties.”
MC commissioner rejects Congress plea
Rejecting the plea of Congress, MC commissioner KK Yadav has directed it to pay the outstanding dues of around Rs 10 lakh.
PPCC, which has an office in Sector 15, had approached the high court against the penalty imposed for non-payment of property tax. HC had set aside the notice and directed MC to pass an appropriately reasoned order as per law.
The commissioner, in compliance of the court order, examined PPCC’s representation wherein it contended that the penalty imposed on it was not tenable under the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation Bylaws.
Despite repeated calls, PPCC president Sunil Jakhar couldn’t be contacted.
Besides the defaulters on the latest list, the Chandigarh administration also owes the civic body around Rs 54 crore, for which notices were served in the recent past. Recently, the administration had shared payment receipts of Rs 2.4 crore with MC.
The cash-strapped MC has so far recovered Rs 49 crore against a revised target of Rs 51 crore for the financial year 2020-2021.
There are 1.4 lakh properties under the jurisdiction of the corporation, of which 95,000 are liable to pay tax. Properties with no tax pending are automatically issued no-dues certificates.
