INDIA
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued a clarification reacting to media reports that documents of investigation on defaulters, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi have been gutted in a fire in the IT department office. The clarification states that the papers of both the defaulters were shifted before the office was gutted.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued a clarification reacting to media reports that documents of investigation on defaulters, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi have been gutted in a fire in the IT department office. The clarification states that the papers of both the defaulters were shifted before the office was gutted.
News reports appearing in some sections of media alleging that records/documents relating to investigation of Nirav Modi/Mehul Choksi have been destroyed in the Scindia House fire in ITOffice,Mumbai are completely false & misdirected
— Income Tax India (@IncomeTaxIndia)
It is clarified that records/documents of ongoing investigation of Nirav Modi/ Mehul Choksi case had already been transferred to assessment units housed in other buildings as part of assessment process. Apprehensions of loss/damage to records(Scindia House,ITOffice fire)misplaced
— Income Tax India (@IncomeTaxIndia)
There was a clarification on shifting the documents too, which read that the related investigation records have been handed over to the assessment units as part of the assessment process.
The IT Department is investigating the bank fraud allegedly committed by Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi to the tune of more than Rs 13,400 crore between 2011 and 2017.
A massive fire broke out at Scindia House in Mumbai on June 1. The fire was put out only after 12 hours of dousing work, destroying most of the records kept inside. The building also included offices of the Income Tax Department and Debt Recovery Tribunal.
The clarification came after the Congress' allegations following media reports on the same. Congress had Tweeted: In a rather convenient turn of events, a fire burned papers that the Income Tax Department had on Nirav Modi, the man who was photographed with PM Modi before he went on the run after pulling off the largest banking fraud in India.