In a public notice published in several leading newspapers on Sunday, legal representatives of Tamil Nadu businessman Sekar Reddy, who was raided by taxmen late last year and was said to have hoarded several crore rupees in new and old currency notes in the months following demonetisation, have requested the media to not spread ‘false allegations’ against him.
Reddy was widely linked to senior politicians and bureaucrats in the state, including former Chief Secretary Rama Mohana Rao and Deputy CM O Panneerselvam. He was also linked to the mining business. In December last year, I-T officials stated that they found Rs. 90 crore in cash – in both new and old notes – and 100kg gold during the raids. Following this, Sekar Reddy had become the poster boy for the Union government’s crackdown on black money after demonetisation.
In the public notice, Reddy, through his lawyers, stated that he and his company SRS Mining, have no mining licences in their name and that they only provide logistics support to other mining companies, and that the firm had already submitted Rs. 31 crore as advanced tax for their ‘lawful’ activities.
The notices that only Rs. 12 lakh in demonetised notes were found in Reddy’s residence, and other demonetised currency and new notes were found from the firm, and that the cash was generated from legitimate legal activity.
The lawyers also stated that Reddy has no ‘business/financial relationship’ with any politician or government official. Several individuals are making ‘false and frivolous’ allegations against Reddy for publicity, the notice says, requesting the media to not air these allegations.
“It is also hereby informed that our client will be constrained to initiate appropriate legal action including launching criminal prosecution against such person/s and/or entities for spreading any false news / allegations,” the notice said.
Recently, TTV Dhinakaran had taken his name during a press conference, linking him to senior politicians in state and pointing out to their alleged criminal activities.