Mall constructed on land acquired under Roshni Scheme
Undisclosed investments, transactions of Rs 105 cr detected
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 22: In a major action, Income Tax Department today raided 15 residential and business premises of a group of assesses in Srinagar and Delhi and seized unaccounted cash amounting to Rs 1.82 crore and jewellery/bullion worth Rs 74 lakh. Moreover, undisclosed investments and cash transactions of Rs 105 crore of the group were unearthed during the operation.
Besides indulging in evasion of tax at large scale, the group has also constructed a huge mall in Srinagar on the land acquired under the Jammu and Kashmir State Lands (Vesting of Ownership to the Occupants) Act, 2001 popularly known as Roshni Scheme, the investigation of which has already been entrusted to the Central Bureau of Investigation by the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir.
As per the official handout of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the Income Tax Department carried out search and seizure actions on a group of three assesses based in Srinagar. The searches were conducted at 15 residential and business premises out of which 14 were in Srinagar and one in Delhi.
As per the sources, the raided premises include MS Mall on Residency Road and City Walk Mall on MA Road in Srinagar. The MS Mall belongs to Imtiyaz Ahmed Shah, son of Haji Mohd Shafi Shah of Rajbagh and City Walk Mall is owned by his brother Manzoor Ahmed and his partner Imtiyaz Ahmad Kawoosa, son of Ghulam Qadir of Nishat.
“The group is engaged in multiple businesses including real estate, construction and renting of commercial and residential complexes in Srinagar, hotel industry, handicrafts and carpet trading etc”, said Surabhi Ahluwalia, Commissioner of Income Tax (Media and Technical Policy) and official spokesperson of CBDT.
The search operation led to seizure of unaccounted cash amounting to Rs 1.82 crore and jewellery/bullion worth Rs 74 lakh, he said, adding total undisclosed investments and cash transactions of Rs 105 crore of the group have also been unearthed during the search.
The group has constructed a huge mall of 75,000 square feet in Srinagar but the corresponding income tax returns have not been filed. The land was acquired under the J&K State Lands (Vesting of Ownership to the Occupants) Act, 2001 popularly known as Roshni Scheme from the Government at a throwaway price.
Stating that search has uncovered evidences of unexplained investment of more than Rs 25 crore in this mall, the spokesperson said that group is also constructing six residential towers in Srinagar out of which two towers of around 50 flats each have already been completed and remaining are under construction for which also income tax returns have not been filed. “Prima-facie, there is an unexplained investment of Rs 20 crore in this project”, he said.
Moreover, the group is also running a school under a trust which is not registered under the Income Tax Act, 1961. One of the trustees has admitted to having withdrawn substantial cash from the trust which has been diverted towards other business purposes and personal expenses of the group. “Prima-facie there is unexplained investment of around Rs 10 crore in this school building”, the CBDT said.
The search has also led to recovery of incriminating evidences regarding receipt and payment of cash amounting to more than Rs 50 crore from various premises. Three lockers have been found and put under restraint and all the properties are being referred for valuation.
An engineering consultant firm, which had valued almost all immovable properties of group, was also covered under the search. It has been found that this firm has not filed any income tax return even though more than 100 valuations have been done by it with consultancy receipts of more than Rs 4 crore in the last six financial years.
“This engineering consultant firm had valued the properties of various assesses of the Valley in such a way that they could mortgage those properties to avail maximum loans from Jammu and Kashmir Bank”, the spokesperson said, adding “most of such loans have become NPA as per the bank and details of such properties have been seized for making further enquiries”.
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