No conspiracy in I-T raids: Min

Tiruchirapalli : Union minister Pon Radhakrishnan on Sunday said there was no conspiracy in the raids conducted on premises linked to jailed AIADMK leader V K Sasikala and her relatives and held that the Income Tax department’s actions were based on information.

The  minister of state for finance rejected deposed AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran’s charge of conspiracy.

Dhinakaran had alleged that the multi-city searches at 187 places conducted since November 9 were a “conspiracy” aimed at ousting him and his jailed aunt from politics.

“The income tax raids are based on information and documents collected by the department…There is no conspiracy in this,” Radhakrishnan told reporters here.

The I-T raids, he said, went beyond state, language and caste factors.

“There was no ulterior motive in the searches and none should see them with parochial presumptions,” he said.

Radhakrishnan also rejected the charge by some opposition leaders that the I-T department was being used to target them, saying raids had also been carried out against companies owned by BJP leaders in other states.

“The income tax department is an independent authority. We cannot question them if they take any action against any person. I-T raids are taking place in other states. There is no truth in the allegation that the Income Tax department is biased,” he said.

Radhakrishnan, who is also the minister of state for shipping, said there was no link between the recent meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and DMK chief M Karunanidhi and the raids against Sasikala’s family members and associates.

He said the meeting had “scared some parasites” in the DMK-led alliance, although it was a courtesy call.

He alleged that the Dravidian parties had “cheated” the Tamil Nadu people for the past 50 years and “plundered” public funds.

On the GST rate cuts, he said these would benefit the people, especially the poor and traders, and industrialists would realise the advantage of the new tax regime shortly.

He said even the demonetisation exercise was criticised by some people initially because of the problems that they faced. But they later realised it was a good step and welcomed it, he claimed.

Searches on Sasikala’s premises ‘almost over’

Chennai : Income Tax searches on premises linked to jailed AIADMK leader V K Sasikala, her kin and associates over suspected tax evasion were almost over, a senior official said on Sunday. The official though declined to give details of seizures made during the exercise. “The search part is over, now recording of statements and questioning are remaining,” the official said when he was asked if searches, which began on November 9, on the premises of Jaya TV and others had concluded. Asked if the search exercise, undertaken to detect tax evasion as part of “Operation Clean Money”, was completed on all 187 premises, he said: “Yes, almost.” “Whatever is left to be examined (articles, valuables, material) and documents… has been put under Prohibitory Orders (PO),” the official told PTI. On the value of cash and type of documents seized during the raids, the official declined to answer saying “compiling” was yet to be done. The raids on 187 locations including in Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and New Delhi were conducted by over 1,000 officials, who split into more than a dozen teams on day one of the searches on November 9.