Through the sunglasses

Income tax raids are a leftover from the days when making a profit or producing goods beyond your quota was a punishable offence.

One of the few sources of innocent entertainment in the murky world of political journalism is the rare spectacle of politicians publicly throwing stones at each other8217;s glasshouses. They often throw stones at each other in private but stick by each other in public because they know better than anyone that their houses are made of very thin glass. But Amar Singh, Mulayam Singh Yadav8217;s favourite lieutenant and Amitabh Bachchan8217;s best friend, comes from the world of commerce and not politics so probably did not know that he was breaking an unwritten code of silence when he started publicly questioning Sonia Gandhi8217;s sources of income.

To the delight of us spectators, who cheered silently from the sidelines, he demanded to know how Signora, on her meagre income, could afford to dine in five-star hotels. He had seen her in expensive restaurants often he said and could not understand how she could afford to eat in these establishments since her stated monthly income was Rs 20,000. While we are about it, he added cheekily, could she please tell us how she travelled to Moscow in Mukesh Ambani8217;s private jet? Who paid? And how and to whom? Did Mr Ambani have a licence to run a taxi service?

Excellent questions but no sooner than they were made public that the Income-Tax Department swooped down upon Amar Singh8217;s wife and demanded that she provide them details of her expenditure and income in the past five years. This came on the top of public harassment of Soniaji8217;s ex-best friends Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan. As chief mentor of this government, Signora Sonia has enormous power to make life difficult for those who annoy her and the Income-Tax Department is a most useful tool.

Her mother-in-law used it with devastating effect against her political opponents in 8216;8216;socialist8217;8217; times, and as economic reform has done little to curb the Income-Tax Department it remains a powerful weapon in the hands of he or she who rules.

The Bachchans have been regularly hounded. Did they buy sunglasses that cost Rs 2 lakh? Where did they get their Juhu house from? What about their other possessions and properties? The harassment was so public and so intense that Amitabh Bachchan8217;s fans protested in the streets wearing sunglasses last week. Popular sentiment believes that the harassment of the Bachchans is a result of their support for the Samajwadi Party. The ousting of Jaya Bachchan from the Rajya Sabha she is now back is also seen by most of us humble observers as part of Sonia8217;s revenge. The move backfired and led to Soniaji herself seeking re-election from Rae Bareli and using this chance to give Rahul baba some field training. He did so well, he was so brilliant, Sonia8217;s courtiers chorused, he deserves more, he is designed for higher things. Forgive this digression but sycophancy makes me so sick I can never resist a side swipe at sycophants any chance I get.

To get back to stones and glasshouses, may I say that if the Finance Minister is sincere in his desire to hunt out black money he should begin by setting his tax inspectors the task of investigating the income and asset statements of all our elected representatives. Then, whenever there are signs of discrepancy he must deploy his tax squads. As they do with ordinary citizens, they should arrive in the early hours of the morning or late at night and go through every drawer, closet, notebook and bill. The victims of the raid must be treated as guilty till proven innocent as we are and ordered to sit quietly without food and water for endless hours while the raiding party snoops into every tiny, private corner of their lives.

This simple exercise will serve two purposes. It will reveal crores and crores of rupees worth of hidden assets that can be confiscated by the state and used for the public good and it will teach politicians that we must end the barbaric practice of income tax raids.

Story continues below this ad

Every time one of them is raided we hear endless wailing and whingeing but none of them makes a single move to stop this practice. Income tax raids are a leftover from the days when making a profit or producing goods beyond your quota was a punishable offence. They have no place in a country that is trying to become an economic giant. Meanwhile, as the Finance Minister is unlikely to heed my advice let us hope for more stones to be flung at many more glasshouses.

write to tavleen.singhexpressindia.com