Ludhiana court summons Amarinder in IT Department case

A court in Ludhiana, Punjab, has issued a summons to state Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh to appear in a case filed against him by the Department of Income Tax.

The income tax department had filed a charge sheet against Captain Singh in connection with a foreign assets case. The case pertains to charges of tax evasion in December last year.

Official sources said the department filed the prosecution complaint in a court in Ludhiana under Section 277 of the I-T Act (false statement in verification) and IPC sections 176 (omission to give notice or information to public servant by person legally bound to give it), 177 (furnishing false information), 193 (punishment for false evidence) and 199 (false statement made in declaration which is by law receivable as evidence).

In its case, the Department of Income Tax has claimed that Singh was a beneficiary of a trust and other properties owned and created by his son in a foreign territory and when questioned about these, he had then given a "false statement on oath" about the ownership of these assets.

It also accused Captain Amarinder of being "actively involved" in the creation of these "undisclosed" trusts and assets.

The department has already filed a similar complaint against his son, Raninder Singh.

Singh had then accused Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who had lost the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat to him, of targeting him.

Raninder Singh is currently being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate for suspected forex contraventions and holding of untaxed foreign assets. The Enforcement Directorate had booked Raninder Singh under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

The case came to light when the Income Tax Department received reports that claimed Raninder Singh held an offshore account in Switzerland. The report was part of details the Central Board of Direct Taxes received from its French counterparts in 2011.

Investigators also said they had detected some movement of funds to Switzerland and accused the Congress leader's son of having created of a trust and a few subsidiaries in British Virgin Islands - a tax haven.