CBI raids, books nine top Income Tax officials

CBI sources said the residential and official premises of the I-T officials as well as those of a chartered accountant, Sanjay Bhandari, were searched during the operation.

Sources said the CBI recovered documents related to properties worth Rs 2.6 crore, Rs 16 lakh in cash, 4.25 kg of gold jewellery and 13 kg of silver articles while searching the premises of one of the officials.

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From another official, they claimed to have recovered fixed deposit receipts worth Rs 68 lakh. CBI sources said these were initial recoveries and searches were on.

Besides Mittal, the agency registered a case against Income Additional Commissioner (Exemption), Bengaluru T N Prakash; Deputy Commissioner (Exemption), Chennai, R V Haroon Prasad; Deputy Commissioner (Investigation), Chennai, S Murali Mohan; Commissioner (Audit-2), Chennai, Vijayalakshmi; Additional Commissioner, Mumbai, S Pandian; Commissioner (DR) ITAT, Mumbai,

G Lakshmi Baraprasad; Additional Director General (Systems-4), Ghaziabad, Vikram Gaur; and, Additional Director (Investigation), Mumbai, Rajendra Kumar, CBI sources said.

Bhandari and his sons Shreyans and Divyang are also named as accused in the case, sources said.

It is alleged that these officials availed of favours, including stay at five-star hotels, conveyance in luxury cars and flight travel at the expense of the chartered accountant and his sons. They are alleged to have helped him in cases involving his clients as a quid pro quo.

The CBI case stemmed from another case registered by the agency in January, 2015, in which Bhandari was named along with Joint Commissioner Sallong Yaden, who was arrested while allegedly receiving a bribe from Shreyans Bhandari of SH Bhandari and Co, Chartered Accountants.

Yaden had allegedly demanded and accepted a bribe for giving a “favourable” report on the I-T search conducted on a city-based private company, the CBI said.

During the probe, the CBI found an alleged nexus between Bhandari and senior I-T officials, who were allegedly giving favourable reports for his clients in lieu of favours received from him.

Following a nearly one-year-long trail, the CBI has filed cases against these officials and Bhandari and his sons.