Sun, Nov 04, 2012 at 12:36
CVC detects Rs 1,000 cr tax evasion in CWG projects
The Central Vigilance Commission has detected tax evasion of about Rs 1,000 crore by government departments and private companies in carrying out Commonwealth Games-related works.
The Central Vigilance Commission has detected tax evasion of about Rs 1,000 crore by government departments and private companies in carrying out Commonwealth Games-related works.
Vigilance Commissioner R Srikumar said Rs 1,000 crore evasion was detected with the help of a multi-jurisdiction investigation platform, comprising officers from tax and other authorities, developed by CVC to look into the CWG scam.
"In the CVC, we have been trying this (multi jurisdiction investigation platform) out in our direct inquiries into the CWG scam where 37 departments spent over Rs 15,000 crore in 9,000 publicly funded projects," he said.
"There have been many inquiries into this and each inquiry and investigation has proceeded to its own conclusions. One unique thing that was noticed in CVC's multi-jurisdictional inquiry was that a huge amount of tax evasion was indulged in by the many players in the scam.
"Many of these taxes, like Income Tax, Service Tax, VAT, etc. were to be deducted at source. The multi jurisdictional platform enabled us to flag tax evasion to the tune of nearly Rs 1,000 crore," Srikumar told PTI.
He said by bringing in the tax agencies to work closely and verify these possible tax evasions, after issuing notices to the concerned, the tax authorities have confirmed the receipt of nearly Rs 100 crore of taxes so far.
"Thus the taxes evaded are being collected and the authorities are confident of resolving most of the Rs 1,000 crore rupees tax evasion flagged by the CVC," the VC said.
The Vigilance Commissioner said the probity watchdog is also coming out with a report on Games related irregularities mainly concerning alleged tax evasions.
"We are working on the report. It will come out," he said. The CVC is looking into a total of 53 CWG graft cases involving various government civic and construction agencies.
CVC seeks clarity on mandate to probe political corruption
To take action against the political hierarchy, or the higher echelons in the executive more clarity is required in law, it says
The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has sought “more clarity” in a legislation governing its mandate in probing complaints of corruption against politicians or civil servants.
Vigilance Commissioner R Srikumar also said there was no uniformity across the states on the issue of handing over complaints to CBI for probe in corruption cases.
“The Central Vigilance Commission can regulate its own procedure as per the CVC Act but on taking action against the political hierarchy, or the higher echelons in the executive and taking up suo motu inquiries, more clarity is required in law,” he said.
The CVC, which was set up in 1964, acts as a statutory body to check graft and advise central government on anti-graft related matters.
The anti-corruption watchdog functions through Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003 which empowers the CVC to take action against central government officials in cases coming under Prevention of Corruption Act.
“There is no uniformity across the States for the CBI to take up cases; the State Government has the power to withdraw its consent and concurrence and this has often occurred in the past -- Karnataka, the State where I served as DGP, being one such example,” he said without elaborating.
It is pertinent to mention that the Madhya Pradesh government, through a Gazette notification, has recently barred CBI from probing IAS, IPS and Indian Forest Service officers of the state cadre on corruption and other criminal charges.
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