Govt to file charge-sheet against 10 big defaulters next month

Not “satisfied” with the role of police in punishing VAT defaulters, the Delhi government’s trade and taxes department has initiated investigations against the city’s 10 big traders for tax evasion and will file a charge-sheet against them in court next month.

This is for the first time that the government’s VAT department has invoked its investigative powers equivalent to that of a police station as laid out in the Delhi VAT Act to probe cases pertaining to tax evasion.

Sources said that the police adopt “indifferent” attitude in some cases referred by the VAT department. Under Section 92 of the Act, VAT commissioner can appoint an investigative officer, which has power a similar to Station House Officer (SHO) of the Delhi Police, to probe roles of suspected VAT defaulters.

“The department recently appointed its VAT officials as Investigative Officers, on the lines of police, to probe the roles of the 10 traders, who were suspected of tax evasions and fraud. Investigations will be completed soon and the department will file a charge-sheet against these traders in the court in April,” they said.

Sources added that in future, VAT officials would also play a role of investigative officers to take up tax evasion cases in the national Capital, where the department needed to do the same.

VAT department, headed by Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Manish Sisodia, has focused on plugging loopholes to prevent tax evasion so that the revenue could be increased.

The department has managed to get Rs 19,000 crore so far against its target of Rs 21,000 crore, which, officials claimed, be achieved by the end of March.