THE INCOME Tax Department has provisionally attached assets allegedly linked to the family of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions (PBPT) Act, 1988, as part of an ongoing investigation, sources told The Indian Express. The tax authority has also issued show cause notices to owners of the attached properties, the sources said. However, Pawar's lawyer said in a statement that no assets have been seized or any notice issued, and that the IT Department has only "sought clarifications on some issues". According to sources, the properties under the scanner include the Jarandeshwar Sahakari Sugar Karkhana (Jarandeshwar SSK) in Satara, a resort in Goa, a flat in an upscale Delhi locality, an office at Nirmal Tower in South Mumbai, and 27 land parcels across Maharashtra. The I-T move triggered a heated response from Pawar's NCP. “It is being said that the I-T Department has attached properties linked to Ajit Pawar. But there is no truth in it. The property belongs to everyone and they say that it belongs to Ajit Pawar. This is being done to defame him,” said Maharashtra Minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik. Pawar's lawyer Prashant Patil said that an appropriate response would be sent to the I-T Department to its letter seeking clarifications. According to official sources, a provisional attachment under the PBPT Act can be challenged before the tribunal set up under the SAFEMA (Smugglers And Foreign Exchange Manipulators) Act, 1976. The I-T action follows a search on October 7 at a firm where Ajit Pawar's son Parth is a director; a few firms owned by his sisters; two real estate firms allegedly linked to him; and premises of directors of four sugar mills across the state reportedly with indirect ties to his family. On October 15, the tax agency said that it has identified alleged unaccounted income worth Rs 184 crore after searches at the premises of the two real estate firms. The tax authority said the two companies allegedly infused unaccounted funds across several other firms through “suspicious” transactions with the “involvement of an influential family of Maharashtra”. The I-T Department is tracking alleged “suspicious” transactions by these business groups with a web of companies. It said the companies allegedly introduced unaccounted funds “by way of various dubious methods like introduction of bogus share premium, suspicious unsecured loans, receipt of unsubstantiated advance for certain services, collusive arbitration deals out of non-existent disputes”. According to the agency, the unaccounted funds were allegedly used for “acquisition of various assets such as an office building at a prime locality in Mumbai, flat in posh locality in Delhi, resort in Goa, agricultural lands in Maharashtra and investments in sugar mills”.
