Months earlier,Maya family paid Rs 8.4 cr extra tax,settled row

The IT department had enhanced the income of the immediate family to Rs 17.75 crore and under income-tax laws,could have imposed penalties that could have gone up to 300 percent of the undeclared tax – about Rs 25 crore – and also consider imprisonment as punishment.

The move had forced Mayawati’s father Prabhu Dayal,mother Ram Rati,brothers Subhash Kumar,Anand Kumar,Naresh Kumar,Raj Kumar and other close relatives,to file 17 applications before the Income Tax Settlement Commission (ITSC),seeking immunity from prosecution and criminal cases. The family had said that it had “forgotten” to declare the excess income when the returns were filed.

Their petitions,however,were strongly opposed by the IT department as well as the Central Bureau of Investigation. Government guidelines mandated that applications pending at the ITSC had to be settled before March 31,2008,failing which the appeals would return to the IT department for a process called abatement.

Although Mayawati’s father and other relatives challenged this provision in the courts and secured a stay which required the case to remain with the ITSC,the settlement commission could not take it up reportedly due to a huge backlog. This,sources said,prompted the petitioners to withdraw their court petitions in 2011 and agree to abatement.

Under the process of abatement,the IT department conducts a final assessment of the income and decides on penalty and prosecution. In this case,the process started in April 2011 and completed by June 2011,and orders were passed granting relief to the family.

According to the order,an additional tax demand of Rs 8.4 crore was raised and Mayawati’s parents and relatives paid the amount,officials said. They said the decision to not impose penalties and prosecute the family was taken under tax laws which allow the department to grant immunity if it is satisfied that the person being investigated has cooperated with tax authorities and had made a full and true disclosure of income and its source.

BSP MP Satish Mishra,a close aide of Mayawati,confirmed that all cases filed before the ITSC had been settled. The proceedings were completed in 2011 and 17 applications of Mayawati’s family members,including her parents,disposed of,he told The Indian Express.

Central Board of Direct Taxes spokesperson Anuja Sarangi did not respond to a detailed questionnaire seeking the board’s comments about the case.