DKS discharged in 3 I-T cases

BENGALURU: BRINGING relief to Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar, the Special Court on Thursday discharged him from three separate cases registered by the Income Tax (I-T) Department on charges of willful evasion of tax and destroying evidence. Judge B V Patil of Special Court, which is established in the state to deal with criminal cases related to MPs and MLAs, discharged Shivakumar from the three cases.

However, the court granted liberty to the I-T department to launch fresh prosecution after estimating the undisclosed income of Shivakumar. The complainant, Sunil Goutham, and other I-T department officers are authorised to conduct searches under Section 132(1) of the IT Act. However, the complainant (assessing officer) had no jurisdiction to estimate the undisclosed income, interest and penalty payable by the accused, it said. The court also said the complaint filed by Goutham prima facie discloses that the complainant, without jurisdiction, estimated the escaped income of assessee to the tune of `3.14 crore for assessment year 2015-16, `2.56 crore for 2016-17, and `7.08 crore for the 2017-18, and filed the complaint which is without jurisdiction.

The Special Court said I-T officials found a piece of paper in DKS’ wallet who immediately took out the said paper and tore it, when the search was conducted in a room at Eagleton Resort. The officers collected the pieces of paper and reassembled them, and the same were produced before the court. The contents of paper are readable. It was neither destroyed nor obliterated. Therefore, tearing of the piece of paper neither amounts to destruction or obliteration or rendering illegible the whole or any part of such a paper, the court said.