A man from MP's Bhind, who earns Rs 58,000 per month, has received yet another notice from the income-tax department demanding him to pay Rs.113 crore in taxes for alleged Rs.132 crore transactions in his account in 2011-12.
Despite an investigation launched by none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office, which became aware of Ravi Gupta's plight after the first report on his case was given in 2020. Gupta has since lodged complaints with the ED and the CBI, and he wonders why they aren't looking into it, despite the fact that more similar cases have emerged.
Mr. Gupta who is 30 year old, was taken aback when he got his first notice from the Income Tax department in 2019, demanding Rs.3.49 crore as a penalty for the financial year 2011-12. He claims he was working for a BPO in Indore at the time, earning only Rs 7,000 per month.
Following the report in January 2020, the Prime Minister's Office referred the matter to the Finance Ministry, which was then routed to the bank by the Reserve Bank of India. Gupta was cleared by the bank, according to the report. But when the new notice was issued on April 28 through the I-T department's ‘faceless proceedings,' Gupta was stunned.
He has spent the last five years relentlessly approaching central agencies in a desperate effort to clear his name. "Why aren't federal agencies investigating my complaint, given that this appears to be a major money laundering case?" These notifications are tantamount to mental harassment for me. There could be a lot of people like me. "I'm not sure when or where this will end," Gupta said, adding that there is a pattern to this because he has seen comparable cases.
Two of his BPO colleagues, Kapil Shukla and Khandwa's Praveen Rathore, got similar I-T notices for 2011-12. Transactions totaling Rs 290 crore were made through an account established in Rathore's name using his PAN card. A diamond company made three transactions from Gupta's account, totaling Rs 95 crore, Rs 47 crore, and Rs 25 lakh.
Tax inquiries involving transactions totaling Rs 564 crore have been issued on the three complainants. All of the accounts under investigation were opened at the same Mumbai bank branch. The names of certain companies to which money was transferred show on Gupta and Shukla's bank statements.
Gupta cited a case in Rajasthan in which a disabled youth operating a small stationery shop in Bhilwara was taken aback after getting an income tax notice worth more than Rs 12.2 crore. The notice sent to Krishna Gopal Chhaparwal, who earns between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 per month, stated that he had two other companies listed in his name in Surat.
Gupta, who claims his PAN number was used by someone else to establish a business account, stated, "So, it's Surat and diamond traders, as it was with me and two other victims from MP." There could be many more."
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