BHOPAL: A middle-aged raj mistry (master mason) living in the Betul district of Madhya Pradesh has reportedly received from the income tax department, a tax recovery notice worth over Rs 314.79 crore.
Currently living in Multai area of Betul district (which borders Maharashtra), Chandrashekhar Kohad has received a notice from the Income Tax department office in the adjoining Maharashtra for paying dues of more than Rs 314.79 crore with respect to assessment years 2014-15 and 2015-16.
The local municipality officials who were looking for Kohad since days in connection with the matter were first unable to trace him despite sustained efforts for around a week. But they finally traced him on Monday night.
“I don’t know how tax dues worth over Rs 314.79 crore are pending against me as an individual assessee. I’ve never even seen Rs one lakh at one go and have been working as a master mason since the last many years, particularly in neighbouring Maharashtra,” Kohad said, after being shocked by the notice.
“My wife has plunged into depression, while I’m already suffering from kidney and heart problems for which I was hospitalised in January. I don't know how transactions running lakhs of crores of rupees have been done in my name when I maximum earn Rs 300-500 daily,” he added.
He suspects that someone in a private bank in Nagpur – where he opened a current account some years back – might have used his documents to commit some fraud, which has landed him this massive tax trouble.
“I used to deposit a maximum of Rs 200-300 daily in the bank some years back. The banking agent who took my documents for opening the account, also took my phone number to link the account with it. But the account was never linked to my phone number. Possibly that banking agent or someone else might be having the answers to the IT department notice,” he said.
According to sources privy to the matter, transactions running into around Rs 3 lakh crores have taken place in the concerned account held by Kohad in the last few years.
Interestingly, just a few days back, a roadside egg seller in Damoh district of MP’s Bundelkhand region, identified as Prince Suman, had received a notice asking to pay goods and services tax (GST) liability of Rs 6 crore.
As per the notice, a company Prince Enterprises, which was registered in the egg seller’s name in Delhi, had amassed a turnover of Rs 50 crore between 2022 and 2024, but didn’t fulfil its tax obligations.
Prince’s father Sridhar Suman who runs a small grocery shop in Damoh, has reportedly filed a complaint at the SP-Damoh office, seeking investigation in the entire matter.