Tax evasion: Gadkari seeks more time to appear before I-T dept

Nagpur: BJP President Nitin Gadkari, who was asked by the Income Tax department to appear before it in connection with the probe into alleged dubious investments in Purti group of companies, has sought more time to present his case. Citing his preoccupation with party work as the reason for his inability to appear before the tax authorities, he sought fresh time, official sources said. They said he has now been asked to appear on 1 February. The sources said that two authorised representatives of Gadkari met I-T officials here and submitted a 25-page document in reply to department’s question regarding his personal transactions and investments related to the Purti group of companies and few others. Gadkari was not immediately available for comment while the BJP declined to give any reaction. Gadkari has denied allegations of any wrongdoing and said that he has resigned from the Purti Group sometime back. [caption id=“attachment_597026” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]   BJP President Nitin Gadkari in this file photo. AFP[/caption] The I-T department had earlier issued summons for appearance to Gadkari in the second half of this month as the taxman was probing alleged tax evasion case against him and his group of companies. Gadkari has been asked for his personal appearance so that he can be confronted with the documents and probe conducted by the I-T in this regard in the last few months. The department has been probing various firms that invested in Gadkari’s company Purti Power and Sugar Limited (PPSL). The department, according to sources, has allegedly found the details of almost 30 companies that have been “in transactions” with PPSL. Gadkari’s Chartered Accountant Ravi Chincholkar was one of the two representatives who appeared before the office of Geeta Ravichandran, Joint Director (Investigation) of Income Tax Department here and sought adjournment for producing relevant documents, according to sources close to Gadkari. Sources also said that there was no need for personal appearance of Gadkari in this matter. When contacted, Purti group PRO Nitin Kulkarni sought to down play the matter saying that the Chartered Accountant regularly goes to I-T office for company related works. PTI