In a strong attack on the news channels TV9 and News 9, Bengaluru Development Minister, KJ George, has, on his Facebook page, called their reportage, “blatant lies”.
In a post titled “Blatant lies (by TV9 & News 9) vs Actual facts”, the minister has uploaded a picture of an infographic, bearing the News 9 logo, titled, “Mayor Saar, Why Don’t You Act”, and which carries a subheading that reads, “George’s Large Tax Dues”.
The infographic lists 5 properties which George is associated with through his company Embassy Golf Links, namely, Pacific Dunes, Pebble Beach 1, Pebble Beach 2, Reverie-D-Block and Crystal Dance, and provides figures of “Tax due to the BBMP”, which range from just over Rs. 3 lakh for Pebble Beach 1 to over Rs. 58 lakh for Pacific Dunes.
He has also uploaded property tax receipts for the financial year 2015-2016 purportedly issued by the Revenue Department of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, for each of these properties, showing the amount of tax paid on each property. According to these receipts, taxes have been paid on these properties in 2015-2016 ranging from roughly Rs. 46 lakh for Pacific Dunes to little over Rs. 4 lakh for the the “Riverra D-Block Food Court”.
The minister has uploaded these pictures along with a message that reads: “The media should be responsible in what and how it reports. The duty of the media is to observe truth and social responsibility. “Freedom of the press" loses its moral force when it is played in aid of reckless conduct."
The Facebook post has come at a time when there are reports in various media outlets about the possibility that George has evaded paying property taxes.
The pictures of the rest of the tax receipts can be viewed below.
