• Notification Date: 04-03-2022
• Notification No: N/A

I-T Investigation Proves Nexus between Contractors and Shiv Sena

According to the report of the Income-tax department on Thursday, the department has discovered several documents which reveal nexus between contractors and the head of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) standing committee of Shiv Sena, Yashwant Jadhav.  

The department claims that the officers have seized approximately three dozen immovable properties. The particulars collected by the department are worth Rs.130crores which is registered under the name of either Jadhav or his associates. The officers have also found evidence that proves the connection with the international hawala transactions.

The Income-tax agency has stated that the seized documents found in the case of contractors reveal that modus-operandi opted for the suppression of taxable income to a large extent by inflating the expenses. As a result, the prominent recourse of sub-contract expenses has been over-invoicing. The entities have been claiming non-genuine expenses and large amounts of cash have been withdrawn from several entities. The cash has been utilized unauthentically to obtain under favours in return for awarding contracts and making unaccounted payments for investments in properties.

The evidence proves that there were several malpractices in the accounts by the contractors who evaded income of about Rs.200crores.

The committee led by Jadhav has approved the proposals that involve expenditures worth Rs.50lakh by BMC. It is one of the richest civic bodies in India. The annual budget is over Rs.45,000crores.

The Income-tax department has conducted several raids in Mumbai from February 25 and February 28. The offers have also raided the residence of Yashwant Jadhav, located in Mazgaon. His wife, Yamini is a ruling legislator of Shiv Sena from Byculla. Apart from the residential property of Jadhav, the residences of about half a dozen contractors were also raided by the I-T department.

The raids conducted by the Income-tax department started right after Enforcement Directorate arrested Nawab Malik the previous week. This increased the tension among the Bharatiya Janata Party members and the ruling coalition that is led by Shiv Sena. It has accused the Central Government of using the agencies against the state government.