TLI Staff
New Delhi: In a massive crackdown on bogus political funding, the Income Tax (I-T) sleuths on Wednesday raided dozens of premises linked with dubious dealings. The tax authorities also carried out major search and seizure operations on people and entities linked with Mid-day meal scheme, one of the flagship schemes of the federal government for children enrolled in government schools.
Official sources said that taxmen today covered multiple locations in cases related to bogus donations to registered unrecognised political parties and also people associated with the mid-day meal scam.
“A good number of locations and premises were covered during the search operation today. Once the seized documents would be reviewed the department will be able to confirm how big the rackets have been. There were credible proof of financial bunglings and tax evasion. That’s why the operation of such scale was launched,” the official said.
Raids were underway across various cities in Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh among others.
The tax department also searched premises of Delhi-based think tank Centre for Policy Research (CPR).
The CPR on its website says that it has been India’s leading public policy think tanks since 1973. CPR is a non-profit, non-partisan, independent institution dedicated to conducting research that contributes to high quality scholarship, better policies, and a more robust public discourse about the issues that impact life in India, it said.
As per the website, the Governing Board of the think-tank included leading names like former Britannia MD Vinita Bali, Bharti Enterprises vice chairman Rakesh Bharti Mittal and former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.