The Income Tax Department has attached a house of hard-line Kashmiri separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani located in the national Capital in connection with an over Rs 3.62 crore tax evasion case against him.
The attached flat is located in south Delhi’s Khirki Extension locality in Malviya Nagar. A Tax Recovery Officer (TRO) of the department sealed the house as Geelani allegedly failed to pay Rs 3,62,62,160 income tax for assessment years 1996-97 to 2001-02, an order said.
The department has undertaken the action under section 222 of the Income Tax Act (assessee deemed in default of tax payment) and “prohibited and restrained” the Hurriyat Conference leader from transferring the asset to anyone.
An order to attach the property was issued on March 29 by the department.
TRO is the enforcement wing of the IT department and deals with cases of wilful defaulters. The authority is empowered to attach an asset and subsequently auction it to realise the tax dues.
In March, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) slapped a penalty of Rs 14.40 lakh on Geelani in a 17-year-old case of illegal possession of foreign currency worth $10,000 in alleged contravention of foreign exchange law.
The foreign currency, equivalent to about Rs 6.90 lakh, had also been confiscated by the ED in 2002 as part of an order issued under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) on March 20.
This currency was seized during an Income Tax raid at Geelani’s residence in Srinagar’s Hyderpora area in 2002.
Various agencies have tightened the noose around terror sympathisers ostensibly working at the behest of Pakistan and are suspected to be engaged in fuelling terror in Jammu & Kashmir in conjunction with terror affiliates of the Pakistan Government and the Army combine.