IT department searches Dainik Bhaskar group
Premium- The search is being carried out on residential and business premises spread across Mumbai, Delhi, Bhopal, Indore, Jaipur, Korba, Noida and Ahmedabad, the person said on condition of anonymity
New Delhi: The Income Tax department is carrying out a search in about 32 premises of the Dainik Bhaskar group of companies in connection with allegations of tax evasion, said a person privy to the development.
The search is being carried out on residential and business premises spread across Mumbai, Delhi, Bhopal, Indore, Jaipur, Korba, Noida and Ahmedabad, the person said on condition of anonymity. The operation is being carried out under section 132 of the Income Tax Act, which authorises officials to look for books of account and other documents of a business, money, bullion, jewellery or other valuable articles under specific circumstances such as non-disclosure of certain items.
An email sent to the Dainik Bhaskar Group on Thursday evening remained unanswered at the time of publishing. The group has five newspapers with 65 editions and has a readership of 6.63 crores, according to the group’s website.
The Income Tax department is looking into allegations of tax evasion by the group by way of bogus expenses and purchases using shell entities, the person quoted above said on condition of anonymity. One of the allegations that the department is looking into is about allegedly diverted funds getting routed back into various personal and business investments, in the form of share premium and foreign investments through Mauritius based entities, the person said.
The group has operations in media, power, textiles and real estate and has more than 100 companies including the holding and subsidiary companies, the person quoted above said. An email sent to the finance ministry on Thursday seeking a comment on the development remained unanswered at the time of publishing.
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