The officials of tjhe Central Excise Department on Wednesday submitted challans against Vijay Soni, proprietor of M/s Soni Ispat limited, Pithampur and the company's manager Manohar Singh Rana in connection with evasion of excise tax worth Rs15 crore. The challans were submitted in the court of special judge, economic offence under sections 9 and 9 AA of the Central Excise Act, 1944. Taking cognisance of the challans, the special court judge summoned the accused on April 6.
The sleuths of excise department in 2007 had raided the offices of M/s Soni Ispat ltd, Pithampur and Metalman Industries Pithampur in Indore and Mumbai and stumbled upon incriminating documents showing tax evasion worth Rs15 crore. During the course of investigation, it was found that the proprietor of Soni Ispat ltd, Vijay Sony had evaded tax by showing less price and accepted credit of over Rs10 crore in a faulty way, which had brought total tax evasion by the company to the tune of Rs15 crore. Both the companies engaged in manufacturing of MM plates.
In this regard, the department had served show-cause notices to the proprietors on May 7, 2009 and final judgement in the case had been confirmed in 2012, according to which the company had to pay Rs15 crore. In addition to this, the court also had slapped penalty of Rs5 lakh each on both the accused. Of Rs15 crore, the companies have already paid a sum of Rs5.50 crore, while to recover the remaining amount, the excise department submitted a challan in the special court on Wednesday.