The Lieutenant-Governor's Office has forwarded a complaint against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with three property transactions in Bhiwani district in Haryana to the Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar for action.
The complaint alleged that Kejriwal sold three commercial plots for Rs 4.54 crore but showed a grossly undervalued price of Rs 72.72 lakh on paper. The complaint further stated that Kejriwal sold the plots through his wife Sunita Kejriwal at a market rate of Rs 45,000 per square yard but showed the transaction at the rate of a meager Rs 8,300 per sq yard on paper.
It alleged that Kejriwal duped the exchequer of Rs 25.93 lakh in Stamp Duty and Rs 76.4 lakh as Capital Gain Tax. The L-G’s Office has received a copy of the complaint on August 28, addressed to the Delhi Lokayukta against the Chief Minister, demanding an enquiry, According to the complainant, whose identity hasn't been revealed, all the three properties, measuring 340 square yard (Sq Yd), 416 Sq Yd and 254 Sq Yd each were sold through Sunita Kejriwal, at a cost of Rs 24.48 lakh, Rs 30 lakh and Rs 18.24 lakh respectively.
"The commercial plots were sold at a rate of Rs 8,300 Sq Yd despite the fact that the existing market rate was Rs 45,000 per Sq Yd.
The stamp duty paid on the three plots was Rs 1,41,200, Rs 1,73,700 and Rs 1,12,500 respectively," the complainant claimed. One of the buyers, on condition of anonymity, told the complainant that Kejriwal sold the three plots at a market rate of Rs 1.53 crore, Rs 1.87 crore and Rs 1.14 crore respectively and received the amount exceeding the rate of Rs 8,300 Sq Yd mentioned in the sale deed in cash. "In the process, Arvind Kejriwal and his wife evaded stamp duty of Rs 10.68 lakh on the plot of 416 Sq Yd, Rs 8.73 lakh on the plot measuring 340 Sq Yd and Rs 6.52 lakh on the plot measuring 254 Sq Yd causing a cumulative loss of Rs 25.93 lakh to the State exchequer," alleged the complainant.
"It is also evident that Arvind Kejriwal actually sold the three plots at a market rate of Rs 4.54 crore, even as he deceptively projected the sale on paper for merely Rs 72.72 lakh at the circle rate.
In the process, he cunningly evaded 'capital gains tax' of Rs 76.4 lakh at the rate of 20 per cent on Rs 3.82 crore, a figure that is arrived at by subtracting the aforementioned amount of Rs 72.72 lakh from Rs 4.54 crore," the complainant claimed.
In 2020 Delhi Assembly Elections, Kejriwal, who contested and won from the New Delhi seat, had declared assets worth Rs 3.4 crore, a marginal increase of Rs 1.3 crore from his 2015 assets of Rs 2.1 crore, according to his election affidavit.