Income Tax dept rejects V G Siddhartha's allegation of harassment: Report

VG Siddhartha said in a letter two days ago he felt harassed when the department attached has shares.

Income Tax Department officials on Tuesday said their probe of V G Siddhartha, the missing promoter of the Café Coffee Day chain, followed the law and rejected his allegations of harassment.

Siddhartha, who disappeared on his way to Mangaluru from Bengaluru in Karnataka, said in a letter two days ago he felt harassed when the department attached "our shares on two separate occasions to block our Mindtree deal and then taking position of our Coffee Day shares, although revised returns have been filed by us".

"This was very unfair and has led to a serious liquidity crunch," he said.

Refuting the charges, the sources said the provisional attachment made by the department was undertaken to protect the "interests of revenue" and was based on credible evidence gathered in the search or raid action.

"The department has acted as per provisions of the Income Tax Act," one of sources told PTI.

They said Siddhartha fetched Rs 3,200 crore from the sale of Mindtree shares, but paid only Rs 46 crore out of total Rs 300 crore minimum alternate tax (MAT) payable on the deal.

They claimed that the signature of Siddhartha on the letter being circulated on the social media under his name "does not match" with the record available with the department.

Siddhartha, the son-in-law of former Karnataka chief minister and BJP leader S M Krishna, was last seen near a bridge across the Netravati river in the Kotepura area in Dakshina Kannada district on Monday night. Authorities have launched a massive search for him.