NEW DELHI, Feb 11:
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which was hit by a controversy over a donation of Rs 2 crore it had got by cheques from alleged shell companies, has got notice from the Income Tax department which has also sent missives to Congress and 48 other entities.
The notice was issued on February 9, a day before the counting of votes in Delhi Assembly elections was taken up which the AAP had swept.
The CBDT, which issued a statement today in which it did not name the political parties or entities, said the notices to AAP and others have sought information about the identity of the contributors and other relevant details necessary to complete the probe.
The BJP had mounted a vigorous campaign against the AAP after AVAM, a breakaway group of the party led by Arvind Kejriwal, claimed that shell companies who have no networth of profits had contributed four cheques of Rs 50 lakh each to AAP on the midnight of April 15 last year.
The AAP since then has been saying that the Government with all its enforcement agencies was free to probe the donations.
Confirming receipt of the notice, AAP spokesperson Atishi Marlena said the notice was sent to the party’s Patel Nagar office.
“We are open for any probe by the Income Tax department or the Enforcement Directorate. We want this issue to be probed so that this allegations can be put to rest. But while welcoming the probe, we also want an SIT to probe political funding of all political parties and not just AAP,” she said.
The CBDT statement said based on media reports an inquiry has been initiated in Delhi into issuance of cheques by companies which were alleged to be non-genuine and entry operators converting illegal cash into legitimate money.
The companies and their Directors in the national capital could not be traced at the addresses given to banks and Ministry of Corporate Affairs, it said.
“Examination of the accounts of these companies revealed that they have issued accommodation entries to several persons and entities for substantial amounts,” the statement said.
It said recently in Kolkata such an investigation led to detection of substantial unaccounted income.
“In these cases (in Kolkata), the unaccounted income was sought to be converted into legitimate money with the help of non-genuine companies which were acting as entry operators,” the statement said.
I-T sources said probe relating to Congress would cover the donation of Rs 10 lakh from an entity whose address appeared to be fake.
Sources added that in the 48 other cases, there are instances of “routed” donations made to entities associated with some political parties that are present and are in power in some eastern and western states.
They said a similar operation conducted in Kolkata by the department in November last year resulted in an “admission” of Rs 60 crore tax revenue, out of which few cases were associated with donations made for political purposes and to political parties.
“The investigations in Kolkata are still on,” they said.
All the companies which were sent the latest notices have been asked by the I-T authorities to produce their books of accounts, people in-charge of business activities and donation receipts maintained in specific cases, the sources said.
They said the department, in specific case of political parties, is analysing a recent ‘contributions’ report sent to it by the Election Commission (EC), which tells them about the exact declared status of donations and other funds received by parties from various entities.
“The EC report is being analysed and some more notices will be issued soon to some of the political parties,” they said. (PTI)
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