Income Tax dept issues fresh notice to Ajit Pawar, attaches Benami properties worth Rs 1,000 crore
The government agency has also provisionally attached 27 plots of land throughout Maharashtra, with a total market worth of about 500 crores. Ajit Pawar and his family are said to hold all of these assets.
FollowThe Income Tax Department has issued a notice to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar alerting him that many Benami properties and his family have been temporarily attached. According to reports, the federal agency has attached assets related to the NCP leader in several states valued at more than Rs 1,000 crore. Ajit Pawar has 90 days to demonstrate that the linked properties were not acquired using Benami (undisclosed and illegal) funds. He is unable to sell any properties till the I-T department completes its investigation.
A flat in South Delhi valued at Rs 20 crores, Parth Pawar's office at Nirmal House valued at Rs 25 crores, a sugar factory in Jarandeshwar valued at around Rs 600 crores, and a resort in Goa valued at around Rs 250 crores have all been provisionally attached by the Income Tax Department's Benami Property Wing. The government agency has also provisionally attached 27 plots of land throughout Maharashtra, with a total market worth of about 500 crores. Ajit Pawar and his family are said to hold all of these assets.
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Without identifying Pawar or his family, the national tax body stated that evidence gathered during searches at over 70 locations in Mumbai, Pune, Baramati, Goa, and Jaipur indicated "many prima-facie unaccounted and Benami transactions." Following searches at the premises of two real estate businesses in Mumbai affiliated to Ajit Pawar's family, the Revenue Tax (I-T) Department discovered undeclared income totalling Rs 184 crore last month.
Pawar had stated at the time that he had no objections to the searches being conducted against him but was angry that his sisters were being involved. The I-T department claimed to have discovered that the two real estate businesses poured undeclared cash across many entities via "suspicious" transactions with "a powerful Maharashtra family."
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He is the second-most senior NCP politician under investigation by central agencies for acquiring vast amounts of illicit property worth hundreds of crores. In addition to Ajit Pawar, top NCP leader and former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh is being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI for suspected extortion and money laundering.
