Records reveal Gadkari has been served notice by I-T dept

Although BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has inexplicably denied that party president Nitin Gadkari has been served I-T notice for suspected tax evasion in Purti Power and Sugar Ltd, records show that he was served summons on January 4, 2013, at his Nagpur office to appear before the authorities on January 11.

The summons was issued from the office of Sunil Umap, additional director (investigations), in Nagpur. Top government sources said the notice — dated January 3, 2012 — was issued in the name of Nitin Jairam Gadkari and was received by Dinesh, identified as his personal assistant to the BJP chief.

On January 11 —the date of Gadkari’s appearance — the I-T department received a letter from his chartered accountant and senior partner RM Chinchwadkar, saying at least two weeks should be given to Gadkari to appear before the authorities.

The letter said as Gadkari was traveling out of Nagpur, the time given to him was too short. The summons seeks details of the money trail linked to the “shell companies” behind the Purti Group as some of which are suspected to be “fake or non-existent.” “We want to know if the shell companies are owned by Gadkari or main investor Manish Mehta,” said an official.

While the race for the BJP chief’s post heats up, Naqvi alleged a conspiracy behind the media reports on I-T notice. Gadkari, Sushma Swaraj and Rajnath Singh are in the race for the post. Purti Group PRO Nitin Kulkarni also called the media reports mischievous.

I-T officials said the request by Gadkari’s chartered accountant was accepted by Nagpur authorities and the summons was adjourned to January 21 on the same letter. On the same day, a fresh summons was issued to Gadkari and the notice was received by one Sudhir, who has stamped and signed as personal assistant to the BJP chief.