M A I N   N E W S

Property of cricketers: notice to IT Dept
By Saurabh Malik
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 30 — Taking suo motu notice of news items quoting the Additional Commissioner of Income Tax, Mr Vishwa Bandhu Gupta, as saying that “somebody should be prepared to act” against cricketers involved in match-fixing, Mr. Justice Mehtab Singh Gill of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued notices to the Union of India and the Chief Commissioner of Income Tax.

Pronouncing the orders, Mr Justice Gill also issued notice to the Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes, the Director of Income Tax (Investigation Wing), besides the Director General of Income Tax (Investigation), “in order to find the truth”.

Referring to a news report appearing in The Tribune on May 29, Mr. Justice Gill observed: “A very senior officer Mr Vishwa Bandhu Gupta, Additional Commissioner of Income Tax, on live telecast on Jain TV stated that the match-fixing scandal be probed by the Income Tax Department and the Enforcement Directorate. He further stated that `with so much immovable properties, how can they go scot free. But somebody should be prepared to act’. Who is to act? The only answer is the Income Tax Department and Enforcement Directorate”.

Mr Justice Gill also observed: “From the news items in the newspapers and from the interview of the Additional Commissioner of Income Tax, it seems that some one is stopping the departments from performing their duties”.

Regarding the jurisdiction of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Mr. Justice Gill observed: “Some of the players who are in the midst of this controversy possess movable and immovable properties in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh”.