Congress leader Kripashankar Singh, who is currently under various investigating agencies’ scanner for allegedly amassing huge wealth, has been asked by the income-tax department to explain his income source for properties acquired in the city and elsewhere. The I-T department will also estimate the properties’ value.
In its affidavit, the -IT department informed the Bombay high court that it has asked Singh to submit “documentary material” after registering a complaint filed against him in February 2010. A notice seeking details about how he managed to buy properties worth crores was sent some time ago and that the department expects a reply over the next few days. “There are properties in the name of his family members too. We should be ready with our reply to file in the High Court when the matter comes up for hearing on August 5,” an official told reporters.
I-T sources said that Singh had not filed his returns for 2005-06. In the subsequent years, the returns were filed much after the due date. “However, he has filed the current returns in time. It appears that he got an inkling of the investigation, which prompted him to do so,” the source said. It is not clear how the department chronologically co-related his source of acquistion of alleged assets and their accountablility.
Meanwhile, I-T sources said that a scrutiny of the bank account details has not yielded much positive results. “There have been several transactions with some builders. We are investigating with the builders too,” the source said.
A leading nationalised bank has told the I-T department that neither Singh nor his wife had any account with them. One of the suspects in the infamous Madhu Koda scam held an account in this bank. Meanwhile, the affidavit filed by Kailash Mangal, deputy director of IT (investiagtion) said the “prematurely filed” PIL filed against Singh must be dismissed with “heavy costs.”
Under The Lens
- A 1,355 square-foot duplex flat with an exclusive 550-square-foot terrace in Vile Parle East worth Rs 2.5 crore
- A 1,100-sq-ft shop worth Rs 1 crore in Panvel
- 250 acres in Wadapeth, Ratnagiri, worth Rs 25 crore
- A commercial complex in Jaunpur, UP, worth Rs 2 crore
- Rs 1.17 crore in wife’s a/c with Samata Sahakari Bank
His son allegedly owns:
- A triplex flat worth Rs 48 crore in Band Stand, Bandra
- 22,500-sq-ft office in BKC worth Rs 112 crore
- A 12,000-sq-ft office space in Wadhwa building at BKC
Really very poorly paid for all the sacrifices made by a selfless political Samaritan! Very bad that the IT deptt. is interfering with the selflessness of this great Congman.