Reports of UP businessman's Rs 52-cr tax settlement 'speculative': DGGI

DGGI said the entire recoveries are kept in the safe custody of State Bank of India pending further investigation

The GST office on Thursday dismissed as "purely speculative" reports which say the department is treating the Rs 197.49 crore cash recovered from perfume maker Peeyush Jain as business turnover and a fourth of it being allowed to be deposited as tax, saying voluntary submissions by the accused is under investigation, which will decide the exact nature of the liability.

The intelligence unit of the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax in a statement said total Rs 197.49 crore cash, 23 kg gold and some "offending goods" of high value have been recovered so far in searches carried out in UP's Kannauj at Odochem Industries - a manufacturer of perfumery compounds - and its proprietor Peeyush Jain.

Dismissing reports that the department had treated the recoveries as turnover and the accused has been allowed to deposit Rs 52 crore as tax dues, it said the entire recoveries are kept in the safe custody of State Bank of India pending further investigation.

"No deposit of tax dues has been made by M/s Odochem Industries from the seized money to discharge their tax liabilities and their tax liabilities are yet to be determined," the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGGI) said.

Such reports, it said, are "purely speculative, without any basis and seek to undermine the integrity of the ongoing investigations which are being carried out in a most professional manner based on specific intelligence."

"In this regard, it is clarified that the total amount of cash in the ongoing cash from the residential and factory premises of Peeyush Jain has been kept as cash property in the safe custody of the State Bank of India pending further investigations," it said.

Without disclosing the statement made by Jain, it said the "voluntary submissions" are a "subject matter of ongoing investigations and any view on the source of cash seized by the department and the exact tax liabilities of M/s Odochem Industries or other parties involved in the investigation shall be taken on the basis of appraisal of evidence collected from various premises during the searches and the outcome of further investigations."

It added that based on the "voluntary admission of guilt and the evidence available on record," Jain was arrested on December 26 and produced before the competent court the next day, which remanded him to 14 days' judicial custody."

Jain has been charged under Section 132 of the Central Goods and Services Act, 2017, which among other things deal with offences of supplying any goods or services without an invoice, the issue of any invoice or bill without supply of goods or services, or evading tax. The offences provide maximum imprisonment of 5 years and a fine.