Assessing all options, hope to get a fair hearing from FM Sitharaman: Raghav Bahl

The journalist, booked by the ED for alleged money laundering, also says IT department gave him no time to respond to its notices.

Raghav Bahl | Facebook

New Delhi: The founder of the Quint news portal and Network18 media group, Raghav Bahl, who has been booked by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for alleged money laundering and holding undeclared foreign assets, says he is “assessing all possible options of getting justice”.

In a conversation with ThePrint over email, Bahl said that going forward, he also hoped to get a fair hearing from Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The money laundering case against the journalist is based on a chargesheet filed by the Income Tax department at a court in Meerut under the provisions of the anti-black money law — the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015.

The I-T department has alleged that Bahl did not disclose funds to the tune of Rs 2.45 crore that he allegedly used to buy property in London. Bahl has now filed a writ against the IT action in the Allahabad High Court.

“I am waiting for the I-T response before the matter is heard on 25 June,” Bahl told ThePrint. “As for the case reportedly filed by the ED, I am assessing all possible options of getting justice.”

Bahl had Saturday written to Sitharaman, stating that he was an honest and law-abiding citizen who was getting the sense of being “hounded” despite paying all taxes honestly. “I also have no defaults when it comes to the debt obligations of myself or my business concerns,” he wrote in the letter. 

Notices despite full disclosure

In a statement released to the press, Bahl said that he had received show-cause notices from the I-T department via email on 1 May, alleging that he had understated the value of his investment in a London property by GBP 2.73 lakh (Rs 2.45 crore approximately) and that he had failed to fully explain the source of this investment.

Bahl was asked to explain why he shouldn’t be prosecuted under Section 50 (failure to disclose information about a foreign asset in income tax returns) and Section 51 (wilful attempt to evade tax) of the Black Money Act.

According to Bahl, he was “surprised” to receive the notices as he had already disclosed the required information to the agency. “I was of course surprised to receive these notices, as I had disclosed all the information relating to this investment in my returns, as had my wife and family, and all taxes had been duly paid for it,” he said in the statement.

‘I-T dept gave no time to respond’

Bahl further said that the I-T department gave him very little time to respond. According to the journalist, the I-T department sent the show-cause notices to him at 12.49 pm on 1 May and sought a response by the very next day at a hearing at 3:30 pm on 2 May.

“The notice said that if I failed to attend this hearing, the I-T department officials would presume that I ‘have nothing to say in the matter’,” he stated.

Bahl’s chartered accountant (CA) reportedly wrote back to the I-T department saying there were factual inaccuracies in the notices and sought two weeks to file a response with related documents.

According to Bahl, the department replied saying that it was “not possible to adjourn the date of hearing and at least a factual reply/ submission may be submitted by the same day itself”.

Bahl said his CA then sent a “factual position” relating to the issues raised in the show-cause notices, clarifying that a detailed response would follow.

“It was clarified that I had paid an advance towards the property, after which I had assigned my interest in the property to a company called M/S RBRK Investments Ltd, in which my wife, Ritu Kapur, has invested preference capital,” Bahl stated.

Requests went unheard

Bahl said that his CA wrote to the I-T department on several occasions requesting a chance to be heard but received no reply.

“It is in light of this chain of events that I am particularly disturbed by the discovery of these prosecution complaints,” he stated. “This appears to be a serious violation of the principles of natural justice, in particular the right to be heard.”

In October last year, the I-T department had carried out raids at Bahl’s residence and The Quint office in connection with the case.

Asked if there was any communication from either ED or I-T post the October raid, he said, “ No communication with ED at all. The only material communication with the I-T Department (other than standard notices on other tax filings) was the show-cause notice received on 1 May 2019.”