The Ludhiana court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Sumit Makkar has passed orders allowing the Income Tax department to submit additional evidence in the alleged income-tax evasion cases filed against Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and his son Raninder Singh. In the written orders passed on May 20, the court allowed the submission of additional documents in the cases after the I-T department had moved an application under section 311 of CrPC (power to summon material witness, or examine person present. Any Court may, at any stage of any inquiry, trial or other proceeding, summon any person as a witness, or examine any person in attendance, or recall and re-examine any person already examined.. if his evidence appears to it to be essential) seeking go ahead to produce additional evidence against Amarinder and his son. “…Both the applications stand allowed,” read the order, with the next hearing scheduled on June 3 when the I-T department is expected to submit ‘vitally important documents’ which according to its submission in the court, are ‘necessary’ to establish ‘link of the accused’ with ‘foreign entities’. Amarinder and his son Raninder were booked in three cases filed by the I-T department for allegedly amassing wealth in foreign countries and then concealing information to evade income tax. In their fresh application, the I-T department has claimed receiving ‘some vitally important documents through the office of Under Secretary, Foreign Tax and Tax Research…whereby information with respect to the corporate entities being run under the name and style ‘Allworth Venture Holding Limited, Mulwala Holdings Limited, Limerlock International Limited, Ferx Asset Holdings Limited and Chillingham Holdings Limited’ have been received along with the affidavit of Ayana Liburd, executive director of the agent of above said corporate entities.’ The department has further submitted in the court that they have also received the ‘affidavit of Derek Rawlings, Director of HSBC International Trustee (BVI) Limited…through proper official channel’ and they need to be placed on record in the court. The department further pleaded in the court that the documents that they seek to place on record ‘are necessary for establishing the link between the accused and the foreign corporate entities’ and ‘necessary for just decision of the case’. As per the details of the case, the I-T department has accused them of ‘amassing wealth in foreign countries by floating various corporation entities/trusts… and then furnishing false information to Income Tax department to evade Income Tax.’ I-T department has further submitted, ‘…accused is beneficiary of Jacaranda Trust which owns various corporate entities namely Allworth Venture Holding Limited, Mulwala Holdings Limited, Limerlock International Limited, Ferx Asset Holdings Limited and Chillingham Holdings Limited through agent Nomihold Securities Inc. Apart from having huge bank balances with HSBC Bank Pvt. Ltd., the aforesaid corporate entities own immovable properties in Dubai and other foreign countries as well. However on being inquired, the accused deliberately concealed the information with respect to aforesaid corporate entities or immovable properties owned by these corporate entities. Therefore, any document which establishes the relationship between the accused and aforesaid corporate entities is obviously essential for the just decision of the case.’ Concluding that the new documents listed by I-T department, if duly provided to the court, are ‘apparently vital pieces of evidence’, the order says, ‘Complainant department is allowed to adduce the evidence sought to be adduced. However, the case is fixed for pre-summoning evidence since the year 2019.Complainant department has already availed sufficient number of opportunities for the purpose of adducing evidence. Therefore, it is hereby clarified that only one effective opportunity shall be granted to complainant department to adduce the entire pre-summoning evidence.’ Rakesh Gupta, counsel for I-T department said that the court has allowed their application seeking submission of additional evidence against Amarinder and Raninder. “We will be submitting the documents listed on next hearing (June 3),” he said. A case against Captain Amarinder Singh is registered under section 277 (false statement of verification) of the I-T Act while two other cases against Raninder are registered under section 276-C (evasion of tax) and section 277 of the I-T Act, with I-T department being the complainant in all three cases.
