NCP chief Sharad Pawar receives income tax notice, Supriya Sule likely next
Sharad Pawar had declared a visit to the ED office which was cancelled on the request of the Mumbai Police as party workers from across the state started coming to the city to support their leader.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar has received a notice from the income tax (I-T) department over declaration of his assets in the election affidavits filed in more than a decade. His daughter and Baramati Member of Parliament (MP) Supriya Sule is also likely to receive a similar notice soon.
Pawar took a jibe at the Centre, saying it reflected a “feeling of love” for him, and also pointed out that the chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray and his son and state environment minister Aaditya Thackeray have received similar notices.
“I received a notice from the income tax department yesterday. It was sent on the directives of the Election Commission of India (ECI). They have sought information and clarification related to the details on assets shared by me in election affidavits filed in 2020, 2014 and 2009-10. I heard that Supriya [Sule] is also likely to get a similar notice soon. I will have to immediately respond to the notice as it also warned of things like raids,” Pawar told reporters.
“They have chosen us from so many other members [Members of Parliament]. I’m happy they have a feeling of love for us. I have read somewhere that similar notices have been served to the chief minister [Uddhav Thackeray] and his son [Aaditya Thackeray],” the 79-year old leader said in response to a question on being targeted as an ally of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
Other NCP leaders believe that MVA leadership is being targeted for obvious reasons. “On one hand, notices have been served to Pawar saheb and his daughter, and on the other, CM Thackeray and his son have been served notices. The intention is very clear that the Central government is trying to scare us. So far, they have been randomly choosing members for serving notices. In this case, we are specifically targeted. Surprisingly, no leader from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was sent a notice,” said a senior NCP leader, on condition of anonymity.
Last year, Pawar was booked by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case in connection with an alleged scam of Rs 25,000 crore in Maharashtra State Cooperative (MSC) Bank – the apex body for all district central cooperative (DCC) banks in the state.
Pawar had declared a visit to the ED office which was cancelled on the request of the Mumbai Police as party workers from across the state started coming to the city to support their leader.
ED had registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), equivalent to a first information report (FIR) filed by police, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.