BENGALURU: Karnataka Transport Minister HM Revanna has accused the Director General of Income Tax (Investigation) of misusing power to canvass for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The minister’s scathing attack comes two days after the Income Tax (I-T) department sought details of huge payments made to contractors by the Karnataka government between January and March this year.
“The person who has issued the notice is attracting our leaders to join the BJP by threatening to take them to court. We have already filed a complaint against the officer with the Election Commission for targeting only Congress leaders,” HM Revanna said on Sunday. The minister claimed that the I-T department had never questioned ongoing works earlier.
In a letter dated April 6, 2018, BR Balakrishnan, Director General of Income Tax (Investigation), Karnataka and Goa, had sought details of payments made to contractors by the department of animal husbandry and fisheries, revenue, energy, PWD and water resource.
“Intelligence received by us indicates several big payments have been made to contractors of some of the departments in the state government of Karnataka during the last quarter of the Financial year 2017-18, which are meant to be used for election purposes,” the letter states.
The I-T department has requested details of all the payments above Rs 25 lakh made to contractors after January 1, 2018, along with details of TDS. Additional details of payments made to the same contractors during the previous financial year have also been sought. “We received the notice on late Friday evening. I have asked all departments to submit the information. In a couple of days, we should be able to submit all details sought by the IT department but the process is arduous,” said Karnataka chief secretary Rathna Prabha.