New Delhi, Dec 31 (PTI) Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the nearly Rs 200 crore cash recovered in tax searches on perfume maker Peeyush Jain in UP’s Kannauj district is not BJP money, and that the raid was at the correct address and not by an outcome of knocking at wrong doors.
Staunchly defending the action, she said the raids, which were based on actionable intelligence, seemed to have “shaken” former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav as the person caught redhanded could be his partner or friend.
She rejected the opposition charge that the wrong Jain was raided and the BJP’s own money seized, saying, “how do they know whose money is kept? Are they partners (with him)?” Only partners would know whose money has been stocked. “If he is so sure to say that it is BJP’s money, how does he know? Only if you are running a business in partnership with someone would know whose money is parked. He (Jain) must be their partner that’s why they are saying with so much surety that it is BJP’s money,” she said. “I am saying it is not BJP money.” The intelligence unit of the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax recovered Rs 197.49 crore cash, 23 kg gold, and some “offending goods” of high value in searches carried out at Odochem Industries, a manufacturer of perfumery compounds, and its proprietor Peeyush Jain since last week.
Yadav had alleged that the raids were conducted on the wrong Jain as his party’s MLC having the same business in the same lane and going by similar initials was the actual target.
The income tax department on Friday raided multiple premises linked to certain perfume traders in Uttar Pradesh, including Pushpraj alias Pampi Jain.
Dismissing opposition charge that the raids were politically motivated, the finance minister, under whom the tax agencies work, asked if the raiding parties come empty-handed.
Recovery of money shows there was actionable intelligence, she said, adding that the raids happening on Friday were also based on such inputs.
“The person caught redhanded must be his partner or friend that’s why the former chief minister is shaken,” Sitharaman said.
The raids – both that are being conducted since last week and the one that began on Friday – were based on actionable intelligence, she said.
On allegations of the wrong person being raided, she asked, “Have they come back empty-handed after the search?” “It is also being said they had to go to a different address but they landed at the correct address. It has been proved after the raid that the information on the basis of which the raid was conducted was correct,” she asserted.
Seeking to puncture the narrative being built by the opposition parties especially SP, she said common people do not have 23 kg of gold lying with them.
“They are questioning it even after so much (cash and gold) has been recovered. Do they have a stake in it? Otherwise, why is the former chief minister shaken,” she said. “Call it tax evasion or anything but don’t say they went to the wrong house. Is it their money? Was their money kept there? Who are they defending?” She rued that the anti-evasion measure was being politicised. “Former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav is shaken by this. He is feeling scared.” “In such a situation where you see wrongdoings happening in front of you, law enforcement agencies caught them red-handed, will you see the professionalism or will you just see things for politicisation?,” she said.
Stating that Yadav should have condemned Jain and advised him to follow tax rules, she said, “He should not be raising doubts on the professionalism of enforcement agencies. The height of the wall is the height of the cash (recovered). It has been proved.” On the raids being done ahead of the ensuing assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, she said that a thief is caught only when the theft happens. “You don’t wait for a ‘muhurat’ to take action.” PTI JD ANZ HRS hrs
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