The Income Tax department has issued fresh summons to Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s daughter Misa Bharti in connection with its probe into the Rs 1,000-crore benami land deals and tax evasion case, reported PTI. Bharti, a Rajya Sabha MP, was supposed to appear before the Investigating Officer in the case on Tuesday but failed to do so.
She has been asked to appear before the department on June 12.
The I-T Department, which issued a show-cause notice to Bharti, also fined her Rs 10,000 for not appearing before them before. Bharti’s husband, Shailesh, will meet the investigating officer on Wednesday, reported ANI. On Tuesday, a lawyer representing Bharti wanted to depose before the investigating officer but the summons required her to be present in person, PTI said.
On May 16, the Income Tax department had raided 22 places in and around Delhi in connection with alleged benami property deals involving Yadav and his family. A chartered accountant, Rajesh Kumar Agrawal, allegedly linked to Bharti and others was also arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on May 22 for being allegedly involved in a money laundering racket worth Rs 8,000 crore.
Misa Bharti and her husband are alleged to have links with Ms Mishail Packers and Printers Private Limited – a firm suspected to have illegally bought a farmhouse in Delhi. Other property deals by them are also being investigated by the I-T department.
Both the Income Tax Act, 1961 and the Benami Transactions Act, 1988 may be used against Bharti and her husband. Under the Benami Transactions Act, which became operational only on November 1 last year, the couple could face a maximum of 10 years imprisonment.
Benami properties are those in which the real beneficiary is not the one in whose name the property has been purchased.
Political reactions
Lalu Prasad Yadav however, had claimed after the I-T raids last month that he was not scared, and would “continue to fight fascist forces”. He claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party does not have the courage to “stifle” his voice, and that if they tried to silence one Lalu, crores of Lalus would come forward.
The BJP has also accused Lalu Prasad, his two sons Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Pratap, and Misa Bharthi of being involved in illegal land deals worth over Rs 1,000 crore. Tejashwi Yadav is the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar and Tej Pratap is a Cabinet Minister.
Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had claimed that the transactions were a “quid pro quo” for favours done when Lalu Prasad Yadav was the railway minister. He also dared Bihar Chied Minister Nitish Kumar to take action against Yadav, who is his alliance partner, in these cases.
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