New Delhi: Soon after Income Tax authorities conducted raids on several locations in Delhi and Gurgaon connected to Delhi transport minister Kailash Gahlot over a tax evasion case, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday slammed the Centre for raiding another functionary of the Aam Aadmi Party government.
In a sharp attack on the Narendra Modi government, Kejriwal ridiculed it for being “friendly with Nirav Modi and Mallya” but not hesitating in going after another minister of his. He also asked the prime minister what the outcome had been of the raids the central agencies had earlier conducted against him and two of his ministers – Manish Sisodia and Satyendra Jain. He also demanded that Modi apologise to the people of Delhi for constantly harassing the government elected by them.
नीरव मोदी, माल्या से दोस्ती और हम पर रेड?
मोदी जी, आपने मुझ पे, सत्येन्द्र पे और मनीष पे भी तो रेड करवाई थीं? उनका क्या हुआ? कुछ मिला? नहीं मिला? तो अगली रेड करने के पहले दिल्ली वालों से उनकी चुनी सरकार को निरंतर परेशान करने के लिए माफ़ी तो माँग लीजिए? https://t.co/GUGEb0dwL5
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 10, 2018
Earlier, Income Tax authorities raided at least 16 premises of two firms which are supposedly linked to Gahlot, who also holds the charge of law and revenue. According to news agencies, the Income Tax authorities claimed that these two firms – Brisk Infrastructure and Developers Pvt Ltd and Corporate International Financial Services Limited – were operated and owned by the family members of Gahlot, who is an MLA from Najafgarh.
Kailash Gahlot. Credit: Twitter/@ANI
The raids were conducted because the IT officials believed the firms were involved in “multiple transactions and alleged under-reporting of profits”. While Brisk Infrastructure is into real estate business, Corporate International is a non-banking financial company.
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Over 60 tax department officials and police personnel were involved in the raids which were carried out simultaneously in various places across Delhi and Gurgaon. The places raided in Delhi included Vasant Kunj, Defence Colony, Paschim Vihar, Najafgarh and Laxmi Nagar, while in Gurgaon, one property was searched in Palam Vihar.
In fact, as Kejriwal pointed out, there have been several raids on him and his ministers and officers ever since he formed the government for the second time in February 2015.
First, in December 2015, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had raided the office of principal secretary to CM, Rajender Kumar in Delhi Secretariat, leading to a strong response from Kejriwal who had through his tweets called Modi a “psychopath” and a “coward”.
Subsequently, in July 2016, Kumar along with deputy secretary to CM Tarun Sharma and three others were arrested by the CBI in a Rs 50 crore scam that dated back to 2006. The case was registered on the complaint of former Delhi Dialogue Commission member Ashish Joshi to the Delhi government’s anti-corruption branch early in 2015. The CBI had then claimed that there were allegations related to bribery and abuse of position against the accused.
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In June 2017, AAP had claimed that Sisodia’s residence was ‘raided’ by the CBI. However, the central agency had claimed that its officials had only “visited” his house in connection with a case. Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh had then termed the CBI the “Centre’s Bureau of Intimidation” and questioned if its sleuths had gone to Sisodia’s residence to have tea.
The Delhi police had then raided Kejriwal’s residence in February in connection with the alleged assault on Delhi chief secretary Anshu Prakash.
Finally, in May, there was another “raid” by CBI, this time on the premises of minister Satyendra Jain. While AAP leaders claimed it was a raid, the CBI said it had only visited Jain’s house in connection with a preliminary enquiry registered in April this year.