EC holds meet with CBDT chief, revenue secretary on I-T raids

The Election Commission India has directed all enforcement agencies to take neutral, impartial and non-discriminatory action and to ensure that the poll panel is kept in the loop while carrying out any operation.

In the backdrop of recent Income-Tax Department searches in Madhya Pradesh and some other states, the Election Commission of India on Tuesday held a meeting with Revenue Secretary, A B Pandey and the Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), P C Mody.

The ECI had summoned the Revenue Secretary and the CBDT chief to discuss the searches conducted at several places across the country.

"Issues arising out of the advisory of the Election Commission of India dated 07.04.2019 regarding all enforcement actions being neutral, impartial and non-discriminatory and its implementation were discussed in detail," the ECI said.

On April 7, the EC had "strongly advised" the Finance Ministry that any action by its enforcement agencies during election time should be "neutral" and "non-discriminatory". It also told the Finance Ministry that officials of the poll panel should be kept in the loop about such actions.

This comes amidst the Congress allegations that the Centre is "misusing" the agencies to target its leader ahead of the ensuing Lok Sabha elections.

In an exclusive interview to ANI on Tuesday, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that agencies which are conducting raids are "autonomous bodies".

"The Model Code of Conduct does not apply to them. They are acting on their inputs. How can we stop them? It is unfair to hold the government responsible for the raids. This is an ongoing process. Agencies act on their own intelligence inputs," he said.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Monday had hinted at the transfer of "cash to the headquarter of a major political party" in the national capital while stating that Income Tax (I-T) Department has detected a well-organised racket of a collection of unaccounted cash of about Rs 281 crore.

"Searches in Madhya Pradesh by Delhi Directorate of Income Tax have detected widespread and well-organised racket of the collection of unaccounted cash of about Rs 281 crore through various persons in different walks of life including business, politics and public service," said the CBDT, which frames policies for the I-T Department.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath's officer on special duty (OSD) Praveen Kakkar's son Salil Kakkar was picked up on Monday by the I-T sleuths for interrogation.