Mayawati Slams BJP as I-T Dept Attaches Her Brother’s Benami Plot

The Income-Tax Department has attached a ‘benami’ plot worth Rs 400 crore in Noida which belonged to BSP supremo Mayawati’s brother and his wife.

(Photo: PTI)

A day after the Income-Tax Department attached a 'benami' plot belonging to Mayawati's brother, the Bahujan Samaj Party supremo on Friday, 19 July, lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying the party should first investigate how much wealth their family had before entering politics and how much do they possess now.

She also asked the BJP to make public the source of funds received by it during elections and alleged that it cannot tolerate when people of deprived sections progress in business.

"Everybody knows that during elections BJP got crores in its back accounts. It is not clear who gave it the money and everyone wants to know its source. Is it benami?" she asked.

Mayawati also alleged that votes of the poor and deprived were bought in the polls through these funds.

On Thursday, the I-T department had attached a 'benami' property worth Rs 400 crore in Noida, which belonged to Mayawati's brother and his wife, news agency PTI reported, citing an official order.

“The BJP should look at themselves. If they think they are very honest then they should investigate how much wealth their family members had before coming into politics and how much it is now, so that everything becomes clear before the country,” news agency ANI quoted Mayawati as saying on Friday.

The provisional order for the attachment of the seven-acre plot, "beneficially owned" by Anand Kumar and his wife Vichiter Lata, was issued on 16 July by the Delhi-based Benami Prohibition Unit (BPU) of the department.

Mayawati had recently appointed Kumar as national vice-president of the Bahujan Samaj Party.

The order, a copy of which was accessed by PTI, was issued under Section 24(3) of the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988.

5-Star Hotel, Luxury Facilities Were on the Plan

The attached asset, considered a 'benami' property of Kumar and his wife by the department, measures 28,328.07 square meters or about seven acres, the order reportedly said.

The plot, where a five-star hotel and other luxury facilities were planned to be made, is registered at No 2A, Sector 94, Noida, in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Budh Nagar district, part of the National Capital Region.

The companies identified as 'benamidars' in the order are Vision Town Planners Private Limited,BPTP International Trade Center Pvt Ltd, Euro Asia Mercantile Pvt Ltd, Sunny Cast and Forge Pvt Ltd, Karishma industries Pvt Ltd and Ad-Fin Capital Services India Pvt Ltd.

The department alleged that Kumar and Lata are the sole beneficiaries of the funds of the multi-layered ‘benami’ transactions that took place through these companies, according to PTI.

The book value of the property is Rs 400 crore, it said.

The law stipulates that a violator of the Benami Act can face rigorous imprisonment of up to seven years besides being liable to pay fine of up to 25 percent of fair market value of the ‘benami’ property.

The department, the PTI report said, started initiating action under the new Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016 from 1 November 2016 after the Modi government enforced the dormant-lying law from that year.

(With inputs from PTI and ANI)