Stamp duty case: Three officials shifted,BSP MP under scanner

O P Singh,Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Registration at Chitrakoot,who initially detected the evasion and is one of the three transferred officers,has even alleged a threat to his life from the parliamentarian and has demanded security.

Besides Singh,those transferred are Additional District Magistrate (Finance) Permanand Tiwari,who was hearing the case of alleged tax evasion and District Magistrate Hridesh Kumar,who is learnt to have refused to accept Karvariya’s demand to decide the matter in his favour.

Karvariya denied he had threatened Singh. As for the alleged duty evasion,the parliamentarian said he would not like to comment as the matter was pending with the district administration.

Singh was transferred on November 13 and attached to the headquarters in Allahabad,hometown of Karvariya.

Tiwari was given marching orders on November 15 and sent to Gonda as the assistant commissioner.

Kumar was transferred on November 16,first as Special Secretary (Home) but was sent to Ghazipur as district magistrate on the same day.

Karvariya had bought a cinema hall,constructed on one-hectare plot at Mahjigawan in Rajapur town,from one Ayodhya Prashad in September 2007. At the time of the registration,he showed it as an agricultural land.

While the cost of the land,according to the circle rate,was Rs 3.93 crore,in the registry papers it was shown only Rs 2.54 lakh and stamp duty of Rs 25,400 was accordingly paid.

On August 27,2008,the AIG inspected the site and detected duty evasion to the tune of Rs 39,30,400. He referred the matter to the district magistrate to register a case of tax evasion and realise the dues from the MP.

After Karvariya,a committee of three officials,including the sub-divisional magistrate of Mau,additional district magistrate of Chitrakoot and sub-registrar of Mau,was formed to verify the facts. The officers inspected the property on August 9,2009 and found that the report of the AIG was correct.

“The land and the cinema hall is located just in front of the Nagar Panchayat office. It is not agricultural land. The hall,which is a commercial activity,was constructed 10 years ago,” read the report.

Soon,Singh started getting threats.

On September 9,2009,he wrote to Principal Secretary of Tax and Registration; Inspector General of Registration at Allahabad,and the District Magistrate of Chitrakoot that the MP and his men had threatened him to stop pursuing the case.

Earlier,ADM (Finance),who was hearing the case of tax evasion,had made a note in the case file regarding pressure being imposed by Karvariya to decide the case in his favour.

On September 14,the Uttar Pradesh Stamp and Registration Officers Association sent a letter to the principal secretary,stamp and registration,seeking security for Singh,who is the association president. Singh,however,has still not got any security.

Asked about the issue,Singh said “I have written to the higher-ups regarding the threat by the MP. I do not want to make any comment in this regard.”      

Former District Magistrate of Chitrakoot,Hridesh Kumar,said: “There was a case of tax evasion against the MP. ADM (Finance) was hearing the case on my behalf. AIG Singh had written a letter to the government as well as to me regarding a threat to his life and demanded security. I forwarded the letter to the SP,Chitrakoot,who after enquiry,denied any threat perception to Singh.”