NEW DELHI: A day after the Enforcement Directorate claimed that Zakir Naik doesn't have any "known source of income" but still managed to transfer more than Rs 49 crore to bank accounts in India, the controversial Islamic preacher on Friday accused the probe agency of lying and asked it to show "spine" in treating his case.
The ED on Thursday in a charge sheet filed against Naik said that he does not have any "known source of income through any known source of employment or business" and even in such a situation, he has "managed to transfer Rs 49.20 crore to his Indian bank accounts".
Responding to the ED's claim, Naik, accused of money laundering, on Friday said he owns multiple businesses and his earnings were reflected in the tax returns which he had filed "dutifully" till 2016.
"Why is ED lying? When everyone - including all the government agencies - know that I have multiple businesses and revenue streams and my earnings have always reflected in the tax returns I've filed, why is ED lying about it?" Naik asked.
"Is the pressure so huge that they need to lie to achieve the goal set out by their political bosses? For once, can they start showing some spine and be truthful in treating my case?" the preacher, who is currently residing in Malaysia, said, adding that he has filed his tax returns dutifully every year till 2016 and the ED has access to all his tax papers.
"The papers clearly show that I have multiple businesses and revenue streams."
Naik said he is "an NRI since 2010, living and earning outside India for nine years now".
"I earn over a crore a month, and I send money back to India as and when required. I sent it from my Dubai account to my India account, and every penny is then accounted for in my tax returns, the papers for which are with the Indian agencies," he said.
"Between 2010 and 2016 - in the six-year period - I must have sent 49 crores to India. How is sending 65 lakhs per month a problem?"
For a country that receives more than Rs 6,000 crores every month from the UAE based Indians, how is my Rs 65 lakhs a problem? he asked.
The preacher said all the money received as charity has been disclosed in the donor country and used for the purpose it was meant for.
"Forget 49 crore, can the ED show even one rupee of charity money being used for something else? No, it can't. Because it hasn't happened," he said.
Naik, who also faces charges under anti-terror act UAPA, said by as per the law he is not supposed to explain his overseas job or business to anyone in India, till the time he is using "legitimate channels and account for every penny" he sends to the country.
Naik wondered how the ED could claim that he has not been earning anything even after having multiple businesses. "So it's totally puzzling when the ED says I've not been earning anything. How on earth can they even think that? From where does ED get these ideas? Of course, I earn. I have had multiple businesses - legitimate businesses - including real estate."
"I am a full-time preacher and part-time businessman, just as Prophet Muhammad was. I don't charge for my lectures nor do I earn from Peace TV, so I do need another revenue stream to survive, which I have," he said.
Implying that I could survive outside India without earning anything is not just illogical, it's childish, Naik added.
He said he has only one message to officials in ED: "Please grow a spine. You're wasting taxpayer's money by not doing your job truthfully."
Naik was booked by the ED in 2016 based on a National Investigation Agency (NIA) FIR that was registered under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
Zakir Naik says ED 'lying' on money laundering charges, asks agency to 'show spine' in treating his case
Ayaz Farooqui
Updated at:
10 May 2019 04:10 PM (IST)
The ED on Thursday in a charge sheet filed against Zakir Naik said that he does not have any "known source of income through any known source of employment or business" and even in such a situation, he has "managed to transfer Rs 49.20 crore to his Indian bank accounts".
In Photo: Zakir Naik lectures on the topic 'Is Islam a solution for humanity' duing an international conference organised by his organisation IRF in 2007, in Sion, Mumbai.
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