I-T freezes Tamil Nadu health minister's land and quarry
- Tamil Nadu health minister Vijaya Bhaskar's property comprising 100 acres of land and a stone quarry have been seized by the I-T.
- The properties still belong to him and his relatives, but they are not free to auction or lease them.
- This I-T action was taken ahead of the RK Nagar by-polls, which was initiated on reports of large-scale voter bribing.
FollowIn a major blow to the Tamil Nadu government, health minister C Vijaya Baskar's property comprising 100 acres of land and a stone quarry has been held by the I-T department. The property belongs to the minister and his family members Thiruvengaivasal, his native village in Pudukottai district.
This happened when Vijaya Bhaskar was negotiating the exemption of Tamil Nadu students from NEET exams. He was meeting the Union home minister Rajnath Singh and health minister J P Nadda when a sub-registrar in Pudukottai district resorted to the freezing of his assets, Â following instructions from the income tax department.Â
The minister has been reported of misusing the stone quarry and over-exploiting it. It is also said he has acquired illegal money through the operations of the quarry at Thiruvengaivasal. A senior I-T official said, "We have found that the minister and his family members who own Rasi Blue Metal quarry at Thiruvengaivasal had mined beyond the permissible limits. We engaged officials from the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) and used drones to check the depth of the quarry."
This I-T action was taken ahead of the RK Nagar by-polls, which was initiated on reports of large-scale voter bribing. According to a report by the Times of India, although the ownership continues to remain with the minister, he and his family members would not be allowed to either confiscate or lease the assets. I-T officials said, "As per the amendments made to the powers of I-T officials in the 2017 Union budget, the income tax department investigation wing can order freezing of any property of an assesse, whose case is pending with us. We asked the local sub-registrar to freeze the two properties as both were important to the case and we had suspicion that they could be sold clandestinely."
Moreover, under section 281-B of the I-T Act, a commissioner level I-T official has the rights to order freezing of property, if he feels that the assessee may sell the property and siphon off the money before the completion of the assessment.
