Taxmen in trouble during search on Pagaria Jewellers
| Date :12-Apr-2019 |
Staff Reporter Raipur:
Tense situation prevailed here in Sadar Bazaar, the hub of precious metals and gems, after local jewellers accused team of Income Tax sleuths for their high handedness and manhandling one of their fellow businessmen, during a survey-turn-search operation on Pagaria Jewellers, situated at Halwai Lane. The tax watchdogs recovered unaccounted cash to the tune of Rs 54 lakhs from the jeweller’s premises. Soon after this news spread like a wildfire Raipur Sarafa Association (RSA) members led by its President Ashok Golecha and Secretary Uttam Goecha reached the scene along with over 100 other jewellers which forced the search team to wind up their operations and return to the headquarters. However, it was reported that the jewellers had scuffle with the tax enforces present at the scene, even as armed police personnel were provided as escort to the search team.
On the condition of anonymity, a top brass of Income Tax admitted that a heated moment had build on Thursday evening, when a group of furious jewellers enraged over the I-T swoop reached the Pagaria Jewellers shop at Halwai Lane in Sadar Bazaar and tried to create a scene in an attempt to affect the search operations being carried out by Investigation Wing. “However, the presence of armed police escort helped the tax enforcers to land further in any thick soup of controversy. Yet, the operation had to be called off to avert any further escalation of the situation,” the top brass added. In the meantime, another source in the Income Tax Department averred that the high-voltage drama began, when a team of taxmen from Range-4, under the authoritative jurisdiction of Joint Commissioner of Income Tax (JCIT) Anubha Tah Goel initiated a survey on Wednesday noon at Pagaria Jewellers, owned by Ashok Pagaria and Mukesh Pagaria. “Caught unaware of tax swoop, an unsusceptible jeweller Mohit Jain, who is Proprietor of R K Jewellers from Nayapara, reached Pagaria Jewellers with cash Rs 35 lakh. Jain was subsequently grilled to divulge righteous trace of such heavy cash in his possession, but he failed to come up with any legitimate justification,” the sources added. In their further course of action, the survey team immediately intimated the Investigation Wing about the recovery of hefty cash from jeweller Mohit Jain.
“For the reasons, as per the law, if the cash seizure is above Rs 10 lakh in cash, search needs to be done,” the sources said, adding further that suddenly the entire onus of the search operation got focused on Mohit Jain. On the other hand, RSA mandarins alleged that the taxmen grilled Mohit Jain for several hours before forcefully taking him to headquarters in an official vehicle for further investigation during the course of which he was not provided any water or food. They also accused the tax sleuths to have obtained signatures of Mohit Jain on different plain papers on the pretext of investigation. Regarding the manhandling Mohit Jain, the Income Tax department denied in full outright and added that all these tactics were deployed by the jewellers to influence the operations. Several trader bodies and business organisations immediately contacted with the office-bearers of Raipur Sarafa Association (RSA) and Chhattisgarh Sarafa Association (CSA) to express their solidarity in their protest against the alleged manhandling of a jeweller by Income Tax Department.
The trade bodies and business organisation mandarins assured RSA and CSA to extend whatever possible assistance to them. Primarily Chhattisgarh Chamber of Commerce, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) Chhattisgarh and Congress Trade Cell members also convened a meeting with the jewellers during which they contemplated over lodging of a First Information Report (FIR) against the taxmen responsible for manhandling with Mohit Jain. Ashok Golecha, RSA President, told the media persons that they were not against the I-T swoop for tax evasion. “We are protesting the way a fellow jeweller was mistreated and manhandled by the tax officials. An FIR would be lodged against the errant tax sleuths responsible for such uncalled actions on their part and all the business organisations are in unison against such highhandedness,” he added