CM Rawat says no relief to Hero in duty evasion case

Land registration at old circle rates caused revenue loss of Rs 254 cr: Opposition

With Hero MotoCorp approaching the board of revenue in Uttarakhand to seek relief against a penalty of Rs 111 crore on alleged stamp duty evasion in the lease deed of its Haridwar manufacturing plant, Chief Minister Harish Rawat has ruled out any relaxation in the fine. He defended the decision of the Haridwar district authorities.

"The decision of Haridwar District Magistrate D Santhil Pandian to impose penalty on the Hero group stands," the chief minister told Business Standard, when asked to comment on it.

The company's senior officials had met Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar, also chairman of the board of revenue. "Some Hero company officials met me yesterday (Monday) on the stamp duty issue. But I made it clear that the issue will be settled only at the revenue board level," Kumar said.

The company is at the centre of a controversy over the registration of lease deed of its manufacturing plant at 2006 circle rates, which caused a stamp duty loss of Rs 254 crore to the state exchequer, claimed leader of Opposition Ajay Bhatt, who asked the government to go for fresh registration of the lease deed at 2014 circle rates.

The company had registered the land deed of its 214-acre Haridwar industrial plot in February this year.

"The circle rates at Haridwar industrial estate in 2006 were Rs 1,000 a sqm. But now the circle rates have shot up in Haridwar industrial estate to Rs 3,800 per sqm which creates a big difference in terms of stamp duty loss," said Bhatt.

After the government came under fire, the chief minister had asked Pandian to investigate. The district magistrate imposed a penalty on Hero, the chief minister said. The company will have to pay a fine of Rs 111 crore, Rawat said.

The Opposition claimed this penalty was not adequate. "The penalty of Rs 111 crore is very less than the total loss of Rs 254 crore. We are demanding a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the whole affair," said Bhatt.

Hero MotoCorp's spokesperson declined to comment.