The Income Tax department on Thursday, December 1, informed the Madras High Court that C Vijayabaskar, Former Health Minister of Tamil Nadu was receiving unaccounted money from Gutkha manufacturers and SRS mining company owned by mining baron J Sekar Reddy. The details of financial transaction between Gutkha manufacturers and SRS mining company were made in the counter affidavit filed before Justice Anita Sumanth hearing Vijayabaskar’s plea challenging the orders passed by the Income Tax Department attaching 117.46 acres of land owned by him in Pudukkottai and freezing four of his bank accounts.
The counter affidavit filed by Tax Recovery Officer Kumar Deepak Raj said that during the search operations ‘enormous material’ was seized from Vijayabaskar . “The evidence clearly suggested that Vijayabaskar indulged in tax evasion by the way of claiming excess quarry expenses, unaccounted sales of Blue Metals, Excess quarrying, Undisclosed receipts from SRS Mining, Undisclosed receipts from the manufacturers of Gutkha/Panmasala,” read the affidavit.Vijayabaskar was the Health Minister of Tamil Nadu from 2013 to 2021 in two AIADMK governments.
The Income Tax Department said that the orders for attaching the properties and freezing of bank accounts was passed only after giving a chance to Vijayabaskar to pay atleast 20 percent of the outstanding income tax dues of Rs.206.42. “The immovable properties were attached on October 20 after providing an opportunity to the petitioner to pay only 20% of the outstanding demand for the AYS 2012-13 to 2014-15 to protect the interests of the revenue,” the tax recovery officer said in his affidavit.
In his petition Vijayabaskar had claimed that the bank account in which he received the MLA salary was frozen by the Income Tax department and he is unable to withdraw the money for expenses related to his constituency. Rejecting the claims made by Vijayabaskar, the Income Tax department said the account maintained by Vijayabaskar in Chennai has Rs.8.50 lakhs during the financial year 2022-23, the withdrawals in the account are towards personal expenses and not related to any work in his constituency.
The Madras High Court has directed Vijayabaskar to file his reply to the Income Tax Department’s counter affidavit and posted the matter for further hearing on December 12, 2022.