The CBI has arrested Managing Director of Essar group Pradeep Mittal and an Income Tax Commissioner B B Rajendra Prasad in a bribery case of Rs two crore for allegedly getting a favourable tax order from the latter.
Prasad, a 1992 batch Indian Revenue Service officer handling appeals related to tax matters in Mumbai office, had allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs two crore for an order favouring the Balaji Trust in which Essar group is the main trustee, CBI sources said today.
A statement by Balaji Trust denied allegations regarding "any misconduct" by their executives.
"They are innocent and the company stands by them," said the statement, adding that CBI will come to the same conclusion after investigation is complete.
The agency has registered a case of corruption against Mittal, Prasad, Balaji Trust, chartered accountants G K Choksi and Shreyas Parikh, Essar group accounts officer Vipin Bajpai, real estate dealer Suresh Jain and his relative Manish Jain.
Among these Prasad and Suresh Jain were arrested from Visakhapatnam last night, while four others--Mittal, Parikh, Bajpai, and Manish Jain were arrested in Mumbai.
CBI sources said the agency had received inputs about the bribe demand by Prasad and was keeping surveillance on all the actors in the case.
The trust was managing its affairs through a chartered accountancy firm run by Choksi whose associate Parikh was actively involved in the case, CBI FIR has allleged.
Mittal was monitoring developments on behalf of the trust, and was also giving instructions to his employees and Choksi and Parikh using his phone, it alleged.
Once the favourable orders were issued, the Commissioner asked Suresh Jain, a bullion and real estate dealer based in Visakhapatanam who works as middleman for the Commissioner, to get in touch with Choksi and arrange the agreed illegal payment, the FIR alleged.
Jain contacted Choksi and enquired about the delivery of the agreed bribe amount. He was assured that it will be paid in installments in Mumbai and Hyderabad, it alleged.
After directions from Mittal, the money was handed over in two installments to Manish Jain, a relative of Suresh Jain, who delivered it in Visakhapatnam, the FIR said.
The second installment was delivered on April 28, it alleged.
After the installments reached Suresh Jain in Visakhapatnam, Prasad took leave from his office, and reached there and stayed at his residence in Visalakshinagar.
He asked Jain to deliver a part of illegal gratification to him at his residence. Yesterday, Jain was caught red-handed by the CBI while delivering the money.
"During searches, remaining amount of Rs 1.50 crore (approx), earlier received by the agent on behalf of the Commissioner was also recovered," CBI Spokesperson R K Gaur said in New Delhi.
In a statement, Balaji Trust denied allegations of any wrongdoing on its part.
"There was a routine survey of records, conducted by CBI at the offices of two of our executives in connection with some IT assessment orders. Balaji Trust is a responsible corporate citizen and conducts its business in an open and transparent manner," it said.
The trust said its executives are cooperating with the investigation and would continue to do so.
In the present case, legal submissions were made to the relevant authorities on merits through an accounting firm based on which the orders were passed in a routine manner, the statement said.
"Our executives are innocent and the company stands by them," it said.
Meanwhile, a court in Mumbai today granted CBI the transit remand of Mittal, Bajpai, Parikh and Manish Jain who would be taken to Visakhapatnam.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
