I-T dept attaches Rs 300-cr alleged benami assets of Bhujbal, family

The department alleged assets were allegedly created by them using a maze of about 4 dozen shell cos

Alleged benami assets worth Rs 300 crore of Nationalist Congress Party leader Chagan Bhujbal and his family have been attached by the income tax department, which has slapped charges under a newly-enacted criminal law against them.

The Income Tax Department alleged the assets were allegedly created by them using a maze of about four dozen shell companies.

In fresh trouble for the jailed former deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, the IT Return department has issued notices for provisional attachment of assets of Bhujbal, son Pankaj and nephew Sameer Bhujbal, and has identified them as "beneficiaries" of the alleged benami assets. The attachment notice, accessed by PTI, has been issued under Section 24(3) of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 2016 (where the taxman thinks the person in possession of the property held benami may alienate the property).

The immovable assets attached under the order include Girna sugar mills in Nashik valued at over Rs 80.97 crore and multi-storeyed residential building Solitaire in Mumbai's Santacruz West area valued at more than Rs 11.30 crore. Tax Filing.

While the mills are in the name of Armstrong Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, the house is in the name of Parvesh Construction Pvt Ltd....

Related Article: Will Act Against Traders Inflating Prices Post GST

The Kerala government on Thursday said stern action will be taken against those hiking prices of commodities following the launch of Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the government viewed the present increase in prices of commodities very seriously.

The government has already established a mechanism to file complaints on increase of prices of commodities, he said in a press release.

He added that Kerala has already raised the issue before the Centre.

Earlier, state Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac urged the central government to take steps to check tendency in trade and business to make undue profits following the launch of the GST.

Kerala wants the Centre to set up an anti-profiteering authority at the national level, he said.

In a letter to his counterpart at the Centre, Arun Jaitley, Isaac claimed that though prices of many commodities had come down due to GST, the consumer was not getting its benefit.

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