Reason Why Election Commissioner Lavasa's Wife Is Under IT Dept Scanner

Ashok Lavasa was appointed election commissioner on January 23, 2018, after he retired as the Union Finance Secretary in 2017.

Ashok Lavasa (PIC/PTI)

New Delhi: Novel Singhal Lavasa, wife of Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa's wife Novel Singhal Lavasa has come under scrutiny of the Income Tax Department on charges of alleged tax evasion, reports said. According to sources of news agency PTI, Lavasa's wife has been issued a notice by the department to explain certain details in her IT Returns (ITR) with regard to holding directorship in about 10 companies, they said. She has been asked to provide more documents pertaining to her personal finances. IT sleuths are reportedly probing looking into the ITRs of Novel to find out whether she has dodged assessment in the past in a bid to conceal it from tax authorities. The probe into alleged tax evasion and holding of directorship in multiple firms against the former banker pertains to a time period between 2015-17, they said. The election commissioner and his wife have not commented yet on the issue. Ashok Lavasa was appointed election commissioner on January 23, 2018, after he retired as the Union Finance Secretary in 2017. Earlier this year, Lavasa’s difference of opinion over implementation of the model code of conduct (MCC), with Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra had come to light during the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections.