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Amid political crisis, I-T raids on 20 locations of 3 groups linked to aides of Gehlot
One of the persons whose premises were searched by the I-T sleuths includes – Rajiv Arora of Amrapali Jewels, who is also the Vice President of Rajasthan Congress.
As the political crisis intensified in Rajasthan following deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot’s revolt against the Chief Minister – Ashok Gehlot, the Income Tax department on Monday conducted raids on three business groups and individuals allegedly linked to the aides of Gehlot, people familiar with the development said.
One of the persons whose premises were searched by the I-T sleuths includes – Rajiv Arora of Amrapali Jewels, who is also the Vice President of Rajasthan Congress.
According to an official familiar with development - the main allegations against Arora’s company - the group is that a substantial part of its silver jewellery business is carried out outside the regular books of accounts. The company has business of trading of silver/gold jewellery and antique silver articles and has associate enterprises in various other countries like UK, USA etc., as well as properties and bank accounts in these countries.
The I-T teams also raided - Om Kothari Group, which has engineering, construction, real estate, automotive dealership, manufacturing and other business interests as well as a third company - Mayank Sharma Enterprises.
It is suspected that Mumbai-based Mayank Sharma Enterprises owns a hotel and one of its main investors – Ratan Kant Sharma - has close association with Vaibhav Gehlot, son of Ashok Gehlot. In fact, officials said, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing transactions of Rs 96 crore allegedly received by Sharma from Mauritius. BJP leader Kirit Somaiya had alleged in 2013 that a Mauritius-based company had purchased the shares, having value of Rs 100, of Trion Hotels and Resorts of Sharma, at an absurd amount of Rs 40,000 each while seeking a probe into the involvement of Vaibhav Gehlot.
In all, 20 places were searched by at least 80 I-T sleuths in Jaipur, Mumbai, Delhi and Kota, officials said.
The probe, they said, pertains to “tax evasion” and some benami transactions and raids were conducted after examining several documents over a period of time.
A finance ministry officer, requesting anonymity, said – “Raids are being conducted by the income-tax department’s field formations based on inputs related to tax evasion. Such raids take place only after prolonged investigations and after finding discrepancies in the company or individuals tax returns. So, allegations of politically-motivated raids hold no ground. In fact, those indulging in tax evasion often term such raids as motivated to cover up their illegal activities. Tax evasion is a criminal activity and the law is same for everyone –unscrupulous companies or individuals - irrespective of their political affiliations.”
The Congress questioned the timing of raids while targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah. “The frontal departments of the BJP – I-T and ED have come out in the field. When will CBI come?” Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted while taking a dig at the government. He added that such raids will not topple the Congress government in Rajasthan.
Om Kothari’s flagship company – Om Metals Infraprojects Ltd, is listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and specializes in executing turnkey contracts for infrastructure projects covering power, roads, irrigation and real estate, according to the group website.
Officials cited above said that the company was raided in connection with transactions related to a contract given to it to build a dam in Rajasthan.
Interestingly, Om Metal’s joint managing director Sunil Kothari was raided by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in November 2017 in connection with the VVIP chopper – AgustaWestland scam.
When contacted, a representative at Om Metals main office in Pushp Vihar, Saket – said, “I-T officials are still here”. He, however, was not authorized to talk to the media.
