DKS tried to buy 5-acre land via benami: I-T dept

BENGALURU: The Income Tax department, which had conducted a series of raids on state Energy Minister DK Shivakumar, has revealed that he entered into a deal to buy a 5-acre parcel of land in Bengaluru’s sprawling Palace Grounds in June 2017. I-T officials said they have documents that reveal Shivakumar allegedly used two persons, including a relative, as a front to purchase part of the disputed land belonging to Vishalakshi Devi, a member of the Mysore royal family. They said `5 crore was already paid. The Supreme Court, in its interim order, has barred the royal family from selling any land.

After seizure of the documents, I-T officials passed the provisional order of attachment of five acres under Section 24 (3) of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, rented out on June 28, 2017, to Shashikumar, a relative of Shivakumar, out of 28 acres belonging to Devi. Shashikumar is the husband of Shivakumar’s wife’s sister.

Devi challenged the provisional order of attachment before the High Court which said the property will continue to be attached till the petition is considered and disposed of. This was after the I-T department filed the statement of objections to Devi’s petition. It said an MoU and agreement, both dated June 28, 2017, were entered into by Devi with Shashikumar. The transaction was held two months before the I-T raid on Shivakumar’s premises.

In his statement to I-T department, Shashikumar admitted to a payment of `1 crore to Devi and said it was provided by one Chandrashekar Sukhapuri. Similarly, Devi also admitted that of the `5-crore transaction, `1 crore was paid as cheque by Shashikumar and `4 crore in cash which was delivered by Chandrashekar on behalf of Shashikumar.

She further stated there was no communication with Shashikumar for the negotiation and the entire transaction was coordinated by Chandrashekar on instructions of Shivakumar. Chandrashekar in a statement on oath has admitted to paying `4 crore in cash to Devi, after receiving it from the minister’s Private Secretary Shridhar and Personal Assistant Shankar.