Vadra's Bikaner land deal puts IT officials under scanner

The case dates back to 2011 when the IT department had asked for BPSL’s income details after which BPSL had filed a petition in the Income Tax Settlement Commission. The Commission then admitted the petition and later provided relief on income of around Rs 500 crore.

Robert Vadra/PTI (File Photo)

New Delhi: An unconvincing reply from the Income Tax division in Rajasthan to the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) Jaipur wing has rubbed the latter the wrong way.  ED which asked the Income Tax Settlement Commission for details on its proceedings in the case related to Bhushan Power and Steel Limited (BPSL) that gave a loan to a company that bought land owned by Robert Vadra’s firm at almost 6 times its acquisition cost, was told by the IT dept. that the documents were destroyed in fire and a duplicate copy was also not available. Sources say the unsatisfactory response may prompt the ED now to question officials’ involved providing relief on income of around Rs 500 crore to Bhushan Power and Steel Limited (BPSL) which had given an unsecured loan of Rs 5.64 crore to Delhi-based Allegeny Finlease Pvt Ltd, a company that purchased Vadra’s land in Bikaner. The case dates back to 2011 when the IT department had asked for BPSL’s income details after which BPSL had filed a petition in the Income Tax Settlement Commission. The Commission then admitted the petition and later provided relief on income of around Rs 500 crore. Then Director of Enforcement Directorate Karnal Singh wrote to the Commission asking for details and names of the officers involved in the transaction process. Singh retired a month ago. The Income Tax division responded to Jaipur wing of Enforcement Directorate saying that the documents were not available as they were destroyed in fire. This inconceivable response has not gone well with the Enforcement Directorate and may soon initiate a probe into the whole matter. Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Vadra in connection with the case. ED officials said that Vadra was asked to appear before the investigating officer (IO) of the case next week and this was the second summons issued to him for recording his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Reacting to the news reports, Vadra shared a post on social media, saying “A flurry of media queries are suddenly being sent to me based on entirely false allegations, probably being leaked by the government, as polling day in Rajasthan comes close."