Haryana VB seals records in five dists

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 29

Tightening the noose on dealers and officials involved in the Rs 10,618 crore VAT scam, the Haryana Vigilance Bureau (SVB) has sealed the records of Excise and Taxation Department offices in five districts on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

On the job since yesterday, SVB teams have sealed hundreds of gunny bags full of papers belonging to the department offices in Sirsa, Hisar, Kaithal, Gurgaon and Faridabad. “Official records in 70 gunny bags have been sealed in Kaithal alone,” said Ashok Kumar, SP, SVB, Ambala. The Vigilance team that visited the Sirsa office sealed the record of more than 1,000 firms, said sources.

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“A DSP from SVB’s Hisar office led teams to Hisar and Sirsa. Another team from the Gurgaon office has sealed records in Gurgaon and Fatehabad for the period 2005-2015,” Ashok Kumar said. Meanwhile, in its reply filed before the High Court, the CBI has requested that in case it is asked to look into the VAT scam, the Haryana Government should be directed to provide logistic support and manpower.

Whistleblowers Raghubir Singh and Shiv Sawhney had approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking a CBI inquiry into the scam.

They had said that the Lokayukta, Haryana, had registered a case on their complaint and assigned the inquiry to Kamla Chaudhary, then DETC, Hisar. But she failed to hold the probe and the Lokayuta constituted an SIT headed by IG Shrikant Jadhav, which unearthed the scam. The petitioners said the SIT had submitted its report in January 2015 recommending a CBI inquiry.

Meanwhile, the Confederation of All-India Traders has decided to discuss the ‘continuing VAT evasions in Haryana’ at its upcoming meeting of the governing body in the second week of June since.

“Haryana has become a soft state for VAT evasion. Traders of Delhi and the NCR open offices and godowns in Haryana, denying a level playing field to others by evading VAT in connivance with officials of the Excise and Taxation Department,” alleged SP Singh, president of the All-India Tyre Manufacturers Association.