AAP MLA Kartar Singh allegedly hid unaccounted for assets worth Rs 130 crore

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator Kartar Singh Tanwar allegedly hid Rs 130 crore worth assets that he can’t account for, PTI reported last night citing “unconfirmed reports”.

The AAP MLA is a property dealer. The income tax (IT) department on July 27 carried out a search and seizure operation on three premises of the Chhatarpur MLA and his associates. That’s when they allegedly unearthed documents showing unaccounted for assets, according to media reports.

A construction company of Tanwar’s, its cross-holdings and transactions worth Rs 7 crore are under the IT department’s scanner. Tax officials said they were acting on specific information about tax evasion and money laundering in Tanwar’s property deals.

On the day of the raid, AAP members said the Centre is involved in a “witch-hunt” against the party and its members. About a dozen AAP MLAs have been arrested or are facing charges in various cases since the party won the Delhi Assembly elections in February last year.

Yesterday, the Centre denied that the raid was vindictive. Union Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal told PTI that any lawmaker doing illegal things will have to face legal scrutiny. “This government does not work with vendetta,” Meghwal added.

Tanwar, who owns several properties and farmhouses in Delhi between him and his immediate family members, declared total assets of Rs 17 crore in his affidavit filed during the assembly elections in February 2015. His I-T return for 2013-14 showed he had an annual income of Rs 12.65 lakh.

The AAP lawmaker earlier belonged to the opposition BJP. He joined AAP after the BJP decided to field a relative of his as its candidate from Chhatarpur in last year’s assembly elections.

 

SOURCE: PTI