Paying up may not end Kejriwal's bond woes

While the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is awaiting Arvind Kejriwal to pay Rs 9.27 lakh that he owes to the department, it may also like to know how the Team Anna member had arranged the sum. Saubhadra Chatterji reports.

While the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is awaiting Arvind Kejriwal to pay Rs 9.27 lakh that he owes to the department, it may also like to know how the Team Anna member had arranged the sum.

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"The CBDT may like to know because he had stated in an earlier letter that he doesn't have any money to pay back the dues," a finance ministry official told HT.

In his first reply to the CBDT after he was served the notice, Kejriwal had stated: "I felt that all the money received by us from whatever source... belong to the cause and should not be appropriated for any personal purpose, including the purpose of paying back the bond money to the government. Therefore... I do not have the capacity to pay back the bond money."

Sources in the finance ministry told HT that after the CBDT's notice was highlighted in the media, almost 20 entities had volunteered and even sent bank cheques to CBDT to pay on behalf of Kejriwal. But CBDT didn't encash them as the rules state that the officer concerned has to pay it from his own source.

The ministry officials also said it would be absolutely okay if Kejriwal took loans from family members, friends or relatives to pay back Rs 9.27 lakh. "He can take a personal loan from private sources. But he should make it clear to us about the source of the money," a ministry source said.

In his earlier reply, Kejriwal had requested the government to waive the bond money. But an adamant CBDT stuck to its position and sent a fresh notice to Kejriwal this month for paying back Rs 9.27 lakh.