The Bombay High Court Bench has issued a notice to Purti Sakhar Karkhana on an Income-Tax Department appeal in a case of submission of alleged incorrect financial details.
Purti Sakhar Karkhana is a sugar firm linked to BJP leader Nitin Gadkari-founded Purti Group.
A Division Bench comprising Justices Bhushan Dharmadhikari and Atul Chandurkar had on Thursday asked Purti Sakhar Karkhana to file a reply before September 5 on the appeal filed by the Commissioner of Income-Tax Mayank Priyadarshi.
Four more such appeals by the I-T Department against the company are likely to come up for hearing next week.
Tax evasion
After the I-T Appellate Tribunal ruled in favour of the company in a tax evasion case, the department filed five different appeals in the Nagpur Bench of the High Court.
The case related to the period between 2001 and 2007 when the company is alleged to have submitted incorrect financial details following which it was asked to pay a penalty of Rs 4-5 crore.
Incorrect financial details
According to I-T counsel, Purti Sakhar had allegedly submitted incorrect particulars of income from 2001-02 to 2006-07. The department had conducted search operations in 2006 and issued a notice to the firm on March 23, 2007.
In its reply, company submitted the particulars of income. However, the department maintained those were not properly accounted for.
After an enquiry, the department officials found that there was a variation of Rs 10.5 crore in income under the ‘capital work in progress’ head. The company admitted to it and agreed to pay the required tax.
The department, however, levied a penalty to the tune of Rs 4-5 crore on the company. Purti had challenged the decision before the Commissioner of Income Tax (CIT) Appeals which ruled in its favour by deleting the penalty on May 28, 2010.
So, the department appealed before the I-T Appellate Tribunal but it was dismissed on December 12, 2012. The Income-Tax authorities then approached the HC contending that the group had furnished inaccurate particulars of income.
When contacted, Purti Group Public Relations Officer Nitin Kulkarni said they were yet to receive the notice.
Gadkari resigned as BJP President in January this year after Purti Group companies faced allegations of dubious fundings and came under the I-T Department scanner.