Vadodara, February 2
The Income Tax department has asked Zahira Sheikh, a key witness in Best Bakery riot case who was allegedly given a hefty amount by a Congress corporator to change her statement in the court, to fork out Rs 38.63 lakh as tax. Zahira will appeal against the IT notice served by the IT Department here asking her to pay the tax.

On the basis of statement of Congress Corporator Chandrakant Srivastav, the IT Department assessed Rs 24 lakh for 2003-04, Rs 22 lakh for 2004-05 and Rs 20 lakh for 2005-06 as Zahira's income, Mistry said.

News portal 'Tehelka' had caught Srivastav on tape claiming that he had bribed Zahira Rs 18 lakh to change her statements in the court during the Best Bakery trial.

The IT Department considered the 'Tehelka' tapes during their scrutiny and found payment of Rs 1 lakh as deposit to a builder to purchase a flat for Zahira in Mumbai.

The amount of Rs 1.36 lakh shown in her bank accounts could not be tallied while she had paid Rs 55,000 to purchase a house in Ektanagar in the Panigate locality of Vadodara after her Best Bakery was destroyed in post-Godhra violence on March 1, 2002 in which several people were burnt alive.

The bank accounts of Zahira, who was convicted of perjury by a special court in Mumbai for changing her statement in the court during the trial of Best Bakery case, have been frozen by the IT Department. — PTI