Jagdish Bhola is an accused in a multi-crore drug smuggling case. (File)
After the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached the properties of Jagdish Bhola, an accused in the multi-crore drug smuggling case, the Mohali Municipal Corporation (MC) has also issued a notice to Bhola to attach his property for not paying property tax for the last five years. Since Bhola is in jail, the notice was pasted outside Bhola’s house in Phase 10. The property, which is already attached, cannot be attached twice though.
The notice, a copy of which is with Chandigarh Newsline and pasted outside Bhola’s Phase 10 house, said the owner of the house has not deposited property tax from 2013 to 2018. An MC official told CNL that the total amount of property tax was around Rs 20,000.
The notice read, “The notice was issued under sections 112A and 138 (A) of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act. In case of failure of payment, the MC shall recover the tax by taking further action which includes attachment/scaling of property.”
The order was issued on August 28. The MC gave three days to deposit property tax. An MC official told Chandigarh Newsline that the notice was issued by mistake as they did not know that the property had already been attached. “It could have been sent mistakenly by the concerned branch, but we shall check, as the property which is already attached cannot be attached twice,” the official added.
The ED attached house number 984 in Phase 10 which was owned by Jagdish Singh Bhola in 2016. The ED has also pasted the notice outside Bhola’s house informing him about the attachment of property.
Bhola’s cases are being tried in a special court of the Central Bureau of Investigation. Bhola owned a two-storey house in Phase 10, a posh area.
MC Commissioner Bhupinder Pal Singh and Additional Commissioner Sarbjeet Singh were not available for comment.