I-T department attaches Gurugram benami hotel linked to Congress’ Kuldeep Bishnoi

The Income-Tax Department has attached a Rs 150 crore benami property —Bristol hotel — allegedly belonging to Congress legislator Kuldeep Bishnoi and Chander Mohan, sons of late Bhajan Lal, former chief minister of Haryana.

The attachment has been done by the department’s Benami Prohibition Unit (BPU), Delhi. The attached property is a hotel in the premier business hub of Gurugram, I-T department said in a statement on Tuesday.

“The said asset is owned in the name of a company, Bright Star Hotel Private Limited in which 34 % shares are held in the name of a front company registered in British Virgin Islands (BVI) and operated inter alia from UAE,” it said.

“Investigations revealed that the said entity and its assets are the benami assets of Kuldeep Bishnoi and Chander Mohan, sons of former Chief Minister of Haryana Late Bhajan Lal,” it said.

The provisional order of attachment was issued under section 24(3) of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988.

The attachment is one of the outcomes of the on-going investigation, including a search and seizure operation conducted in the group by the department, in July 2019 during which lot of incriminating evidence regarding the ownership of the Bristol Hotel through a Benami arrangement were recovered, it said.

Last month, the income tax department carried out searches at residential premises of Kuldeep Bishnoi in Hisar and Mandi Adampur.

“Benami shareholders of the said BVI entity are close confidants of Bishnoi family. Control over affairs of the entity rests with the Bishnois; consideration paid for acquisition of shares in Bright Star Hotel Private Limited was arranged by the Bishnois and they were managing actual affairs of the entity through their associates based in India and abroad,” it said.