income tax
On November 16, 2021, the Income Tax Department launched search and seizure operations targeting two prominent real estate developers in Ludhiana. This operation spanned approximately 40 premises within the city.
The primary outcome of these operations revealed that both groups had received unaccounted cash linked to property transactions, commonly referred to as "on-money." During the search, significant documentary evidence was located and confiscated. This evidence included 'agreements to sale' (locally known as 'Biyana') for multiple properties.
Investigators discovered that the stated value in these agreements significantly exceeded the amounts reflected in the registered sale deeds for the respective plots. Additional incriminating materials recovered included:
A preliminary review of these findings strongly suggests the acceptance of unaccounted cash in the form of on-money. Moreover, supplementary corroborative evidence substantiating this claim has also been compiled.
The investigations further uncovered instances of unaccounted cash expenditures related to the construction of a residential property owned by a key individual within one of the groups.
Additionally, one group was found to be non-compliant with tax deduction at source provisions in relation to payments made to land sellers.
The search operations culminated in the seizure of approximately Rs. 2.00 crore in unaccounted cash, along with foreign currency and unexplained jewelry valued at around Rs. 2.30 crore.