NEW DELHI: Why has the income tax department clubbed all assessment-related cases of former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her two children — Rahul and Priyanka — with the investigation being carried out against fugitive defence dealer Sanjay Bhandari at the department’s Central Circle in Delhi?
On Friday, the Delhi high court rejected the petitions of all three Congress leaders and asked them to cooperate with the I-T cell coordinating the probe. Interestingly, Central Circle 27, which will now reassess tax filings of Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka along with their not-for-profit Young Indian and Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, has also been handling cases related to Robert Vadra, Priyanka’s husband. Congress maintains that Vadra is a private individual and the party leadership has nothing to do with his business activities.
More than two years ago, the I-T department transferred assessments of charitable organisations controlled by the Gandhi family to Central Circle 27, stating it would help in “better coordination, effective investigation and meaningful assessment” by taking them together with the assessment of Bhandari’s cases, including Vadra’s.
Later, the individual assessment cases of the Gandhis too were transferred to the same circle, leading many to ask if they were being linked to Bhandari or Vadra, both facing a multitude of tax evasion and money laundering cases.
Vadra has been under the scanner since the NDA government came to office in 2014 for alleged land deals in Gurgaon and some other cases in Rajasthan. His name later surfaced during an investigation against Bhandari for alleged purchase of properties in London and Dubai. According to the ED, entities controlled by Bhandari bought properties which were later transferred to entities allegedly associated with Vadra.
For close to seven years, the ED has been fighting court battles in the UK to extradite Bhandari as he is allegedly a crucial link between Vadra and defence payoffs received in several deals signed during the UPA regime.
The most important case of Bhandari-linked payoffs tracked by the ED is an alleged transfer of Rs 343 crore in kickbacks in the Pilatus aircraft deal with Switzerland. A court in London has allowed Bhandari’s extradition to India for trial in cases related to money laundering and tax evasion. The matter has since been pending with the UK home secretary.
Last month, the ED, while attaching a property in Delhi worth Rs 4.5 crore in the Pilatus bribery case, claimed its “investigation revealed that Pilatus Aircraft Ltd, Switzerland, entered into a criminal conspiracy with Sanjay Bhandari, his partner Bimal Sareen and others for obtaining the contract of supply of 75 Basic Trainer Aircraft to the Indian Air Force. In pursuance of this conspiracy, kickbacks (proceeds of crime) of Rs 343 crore from Pilatus Aircraft Ltd were received in the bank accounts of companies controlled by Sanjay Bhandari in India and UAE for influencing the process of contract in its favour”.
As reported by TOI earlier, the fugitive arms dealer had a number of companies incorporated in the UAE to receive “commission” for facilitating defence deals with Indian authorities. Offset India Solution FZC, Santech International FZC, Serra Dues Technologies and Petro Global Technologies FZC were some of them, according to probe reports.
On Friday, the Delhi high court rejected the petitions of all three Congress leaders and asked them to cooperate with the I-T cell coordinating the probe. Interestingly, Central Circle 27, which will now reassess tax filings of Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka along with their not-for-profit Young Indian and Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, has also been handling cases related to Robert Vadra, Priyanka’s husband. Congress maintains that Vadra is a private individual and the party leadership has nothing to do with his business activities.
More than two years ago, the I-T department transferred assessments of charitable organisations controlled by the Gandhi family to Central Circle 27, stating it would help in “better coordination, effective investigation and meaningful assessment” by taking them together with the assessment of Bhandari’s cases, including Vadra’s.
Later, the individual assessment cases of the Gandhis too were transferred to the same circle, leading many to ask if they were being linked to Bhandari or Vadra, both facing a multitude of tax evasion and money laundering cases.
Vadra has been under the scanner since the NDA government came to office in 2014 for alleged land deals in Gurgaon and some other cases in Rajasthan. His name later surfaced during an investigation against Bhandari for alleged purchase of properties in London and Dubai. According to the ED, entities controlled by Bhandari bought properties which were later transferred to entities allegedly associated with Vadra.
For close to seven years, the ED has been fighting court battles in the UK to extradite Bhandari as he is allegedly a crucial link between Vadra and defence payoffs received in several deals signed during the UPA regime.
The most important case of Bhandari-linked payoffs tracked by the ED is an alleged transfer of Rs 343 crore in kickbacks in the Pilatus aircraft deal with Switzerland. A court in London has allowed Bhandari’s extradition to India for trial in cases related to money laundering and tax evasion. The matter has since been pending with the UK home secretary.
Last month, the ED, while attaching a property in Delhi worth Rs 4.5 crore in the Pilatus bribery case, claimed its “investigation revealed that Pilatus Aircraft Ltd, Switzerland, entered into a criminal conspiracy with Sanjay Bhandari, his partner Bimal Sareen and others for obtaining the contract of supply of 75 Basic Trainer Aircraft to the Indian Air Force. In pursuance of this conspiracy, kickbacks (proceeds of crime) of Rs 343 crore from Pilatus Aircraft Ltd were received in the bank accounts of companies controlled by Sanjay Bhandari in India and UAE for influencing the process of contract in its favour”.
As reported by TOI earlier, the fugitive arms dealer had a number of companies incorporated in the UAE to receive “commission” for facilitating defence deals with Indian authorities. Offset India Solution FZC, Santech International FZC, Serra Dues Technologies and Petro Global Technologies FZC were some of them, according to probe reports.
