JOIN US Mahesh Shah, the Ahmedabad-based nondescript property dealer who was in the limelight for declaring Rs 13,860 crore under the Income Declaration Scheme (IDS), may not face any criminal proceedings.
A source said Income Tax officials in Ahmedabad, who had earlier threatened to initiate criminal proceedings against Shah, have now realised that they have no case against him.
“As far as the department is concerned, the case has reached a dead end. The department has limited legal recourse available. Even the IDS clause reads that in case of non-payment of tax on amount declared, the disclosure is nullified and is deemed never to have been made,” the source said.
“The declaration in form thus holds no value and to the best of our understanding, no action can now be initiated against him,” the source added.
Shah had declared an unaccounted income of Rs 13,860 crore under IDS and disappeared without paying the first installment of Rs 1,560 crore tax on the amount.
He later reappeared before the media and made a statement that the amount he disclosed did not belong to him, but he was a tool in the hands of some “big fish” who had promised him a hefty “commission”.
Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has opposed any move by the Income Tax (I-T) department to not pursue the case against Shah.
“This proposed move by the I-T department is not just laughable, but sad and painful. It is the same department that approached the Election Commission to derecognise AAP...This is the same department that conducted over 1,100 raids and sent 5,100 notices to small businessmen and harassing them,” an AAP spokesperson said.
The party has also threatened to hold a protest at the Income Tax office in Ahmedabad on Thursday evening.
‘People still suffering due to note ban’
People across the country continue to suffer three months after the unexpected implementation of demonetisation on November 8, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, DHNS reports from Kolkata.
Mamata, a vocal critic of the government move to abolish Rs 500 and 1,000 currency notes, has dubbed demonetisation an “acute economic crisis.”
“Today, three months over. Restrictions and sufferings not over. #DeMonetisation,” Mamata said in a series of five tweets on Wednesday.
“Citizens have lost economic freedom. When economic freedom is lost, a main freedom is lost #DeMonetisation,” she added. “DeMo-ReMo derailed the nation. Visionless, missionless, directionless.”