Chandigarh, June 25
Builders in Haryana are set to be brought under the scanner of the Excise and Taxation Department as the state government is set to bring them under the ambit of value-added tax (VAT), a development which is likely to push up property prices in the recession-hit realty market.

"A survey is being conducted to bring developers, joint developers, promoters and builders under the ambit of VAT as per provisions of the Haryana Value Added Tax Act, 2003," Excise and Taxation Minister Kiran Choudhry said here today.

Official sources said builders were liable to pay VAT and needed to be registered under the Act with the department.

"Their liability will be on taxable turnover related to transfer of property in goods involved in building construction. In case plot or property owners collaborate with developers by not charging for a part of plot or property constructed, the construction amount will be liable," the sources said, adding that they were required to file returns in Forms R-1 and R-6.

Besides paying tax as a registered dealer, a person can opt for a composition scheme to pay VAT at the prescribed rate (4 per cent) on total turnover of contract value. Developers can opt for this scheme and in their case, the total turnover liable would not include the amount received from customers or buyers towards their undivided share in land.

Officials clarified that there was no tax on the sale of built-up flats or buildings, which amounted to sale of immovable property. With scores of builders constructing thousands of apartments in the National Capital Region and other areas, the department expects substantial revenue from them in months to come.

On the other hand, builders are likely to pass on the tax to end-users and investors.

"In case the government imposes VAT on builders, property prices will rise as we will pass on the tax to customers," a Gurgaon-based builder said.

Realty check Survey in progress to bring builders under VAT Builders to be registered with Excise Department No tax on sale of built-up flats and buildings Property prices to rise as builders to pass on tax

Karnal, June 25
About 750 persons from Haryana are still stranded in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand and their whereabouts are not known as per information collected by the State Crime Records Bureau (SCRB).

"We contacted families of missing persons, gave them necessary information and prepared a list of 900 persons. By the evening, 150 persons returned. The number stands at 750," said SCRB Director Laik Ram Dabas. He hoped that the missing would reach home soon.

He said 81 persons from Ambala, 100 from Karnal, 99 from Panipat, 87 from Sonepat, 68 from Gurgaon, 60 from Hisar, 45 from Panchkula, 42 from Yamunanagar, 40 each from Jind and Faridabad, 25 from Bhiwani, 23 from Kaithal, 16 each from Rohtak and Kurukshetra and 12 from Riwari had not returned.

Dabas said the information was based on inputs received from families whose members had not returned and had not contacted their families for the last one week. He appealed to families to give photographs and telephone numbers of the missing at the nearest police station so that necessary follow action could be taken.

Meanwhile, help for flood victims is pouring in. A total of 2,300 prisoners and 300 employees of the Karnal Jail have contributed to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund. The local unit of Bharatiya Janata Party held a condolence meeting to mourn the deaths.

Kurukshetra, June 25
Employees of the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Kurukshetra, have donated one-day salary for Uttarakhand victims, said Dr Yogesh Aggarwal, NIT public relations in charge.This decision was taken at a meeting convened by NIT Director Aanand Mohan here last evening.

Chandigarh, June 25
Excise and Taxation Minister Kiran Choudhry today launched an online grievance redress portal www. haryanatax.com and a toll-free service 1800-180-2017 here .

She said these facilities would ensure faster disposal of complaints and suggestions of citizens who came in regular contact with the department. Any citizen, especially a dealer registered with the department, would now be able to lodge his grievance or give any suggestion online at the website and call the toll-free number for the purpose.

The web-based, on-line grievance system would be operational 24x7 and the toll-free telephone service would be available from 10.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on all working days. The caller would be given a specific ID for his query or complaint at both services.The caller would be duly informed regarding the status in the matter on his given telephone number as well as on his e-mail within 15 days.

She said the Centre was actively considering the claim of CST compensation lodged by the state government. Due to the active pursuance of the case, a substantial amount was likely to be received during this financial year on this account. In reply to a question she said that the goods and services tax would be rolled out soon.

Choudhry said the department had collected a revenue of Rs 19,703.64 crore in 2012-13 as against Rs 18,077 crore in 2011-12. It achieved all budgeted targets despite a huge slow-down in the economy and non-receipt of the CST compensation from the Central Government. The minister claimed that the excise revenue alone would increase to about Rs. 3,800 crore as compared to Rs 3,240 crore in 2012-13. 

Gurgaon, June 25
An RTI reply has revealed how Gurgaon MLA and Haryana Minister of State for Sports Sukhbir Kataria has released lavish grants from his discretionary fund to certain affluent and influential persons and organisations.

The beneficiaries of the minister's largesse include the managements of certain private schools, persons living in large houses and expensive flats, government employees, his own assistant, relatives and a local journalist.

While certain affluent and influential persons have been shown as "poor" , certain educational institutions, a social organisation and a residents' welfare association have also been handpicked for the grants.

Curiously, the minister has given a considerable amount to the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon for construction of cemented roads for the houses of specific persons in certain localities of Gurgaon city.

All this has been mentioned in a written communication released by the District Development and Panchayat Officer (DDPO), Gurgaon, in response to an RTI application filed by Umesh Aggarwal, state media convener of the BJP.

The BJP leader had sought detailed information about the grants released by Kataria between October, 2009, and March 31, 2013.

Aggarwal has released the list of the beneficiaries to the Press and has sought a thorough probe into the matter.

Kaithal, June 25
Bhaktawar Singh (97), the only surviving freedom fighter in this district, died this morning at his native village of Kutabpur. He was cremated with full honours — Kaithal tehsildar Roshan Lal represented the district administration at the funeral and laid a wreath on the body. Wreaths were also laid on behalf of Haryana minister Randeep Singh Surjewala and Naveen Jindal, MP. Hundreds of people from neighbouring villages were among those who attended the funeral.

A contingent of the Haryana police fired shots in the air and reversed their arms as a mark of respect to the freedom fighter.

Born in a farmers' family, Bakhtawar Singh joined the British Army in 1939 and took part in World War II and saw action in Germany and Burma.

On inspiration from Subhas Chander Bose, he joined the war of freedom. He remained in jail in Andaman-Nikobar

He was honoured by President Pranab Mukerjee on August 9, 2012.

Rewari, June 25
The Model Town police here has arrested Arjun Singh for the dowry death of his wife Reena ( 24). She committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance in Saraswati Vihar here on June 18.

He was today produced in a local court which remanded him in 14-day judicial custody. Earlier, on a complaint filed by Ganga Ram, the deceased’s brother and a resident of Sultanpuri in Delhi, the police had registered a case of dowry death against Arjun and his sister-in-law Bobby, wife of his elder brother Bharat, a resident of the same colony.

Ganga Ram alleged that his sister, who got married to Arjun about three years ago, was ill-treated for dowry by her in-laws, who forced her to end her life.

Reena is survived by one-year-old baby girl. 

Rohtak, June 25
The police has booked three persons on the charge duping a resident of Bhalaut village, near here, of Rs 3.5 lakh. No arrest has been made so far.

This is second case of cheating against the accused. They were named in an FIR a couple of weeks ago in which they were booked for duping a person of about Rs 42 lakh. According to complainant Joginder, Pravin of Sector 1 here, his brother Navin and manager Devender Chopra duped him of of Rs 3.5 lakh.

The complainant told the police that they took the money for investment in the share market by promising handsome returns, but failed to pay him back. He said they told him that the amount could not be returned as it had been lost and threatened him when he demanded repayment.

The accused had been booked earlier under Sections 420 and 406 of the IPC for duping Arjun Nain of Ajaib village of Rs 42 lakh.

Hisar, June 25
Power utilities set a new record in supplying electricity yesterday. The maximum load was 7,527 MW and power distribution utilities supplied 1,536.43 lakh units, said a Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam spokesperson.

"The DHBVN and the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam supplied over 1,536 lakh units, which was 143 lakh units more than the power supplied on the corresponding day last year. The utilities supplied 42.93 lakh units more than the demand as per the supply schedule," he said.

He said that the utilities supplied power for 23.35 hours to urban consumers, 23.44 hours to industries, 10.06 hours to the agriculture sector and 13.51 hours to the rural domestic sector compared to the schedule of 20 hours, 20.30 hours, 8 hours and 14 hours, respectively," the spokesperson said.

He said the previous record of supply and load was 1,528 lakh units and 7,188 MW, respectively, on June 22 last year. He said the record supply in 2012 was 1,458 lakh units on July 7 while the maximum load on that day was 6,725 MW.

Hisar, June 25
A BSF jawan posted here has allegedly tried to rape his colleague's wife.

In her complaint to the police, the 28-year-old victim stated that her husband had gone to perform duty in the Amarnath yatra.

She alleged that Omkar came to her house last night and forcibly dragged her to his house, opposite hers.

She alleged that Omkar, whose wife had gone to UP to appear in some examination, attempted to rape her.

She said he threatened to kill her when she tried to raise an alarm.

Rewari, June 25
Sonia Yadav (27) died while her husband, Subhash Yadav, and two children- daughter Mahak and son Prince, sustained injuries when their motorcycle collided with a car on the Rewari-Narnaul road near Padla village, about 26 km from here, yesterday.

Sonia, who was admitted to a private hospital here, succumbed to her injuries today while her husband was under treatment at the Base Hospital of the Army in Delhi.

The mishap took place when Subhash was going to visit a temple at Turkiawas village, near Atei, along with his wife and children while the car was on its way to Rewari.

Subhash, who is in the Army, is a resident of Alwar district in Rajasthan.

The driver fled after abandoning the car which was later impounded by the police.

The police has booked the car driver.

Sonepat, June 25
The police arrested two motorcycle-borne armed youths near Badwasni village last night. They were identified as Manjeet of Kami village and Dheeraj of Bakhtawarpur.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Balbir Singh said the police seized a countrymade pistol and an empty cartridge and impounded the motorcycle. The police received information that two motorcycle-borne armed youths attempted to loot a person near Gannaur, after which police nakas were alerted.

After receiving information that two armed youths on a motorcycle were coming from the Kailana side, a CIA unit laid a trap near Badwasni village. When the police team signalled them to stop, the pillion-rider fired at the police and the youth driving the motorcycle tried to speed away.

The police chased them and fired in the air. They stopped the motorcycle and were arrested. A local court sent them in police custody for investigation into cases in which they were accused to be involved.

During preliminary interrogation, Manjeet confessed his involvement in a case of murder, two of attempt to murder, one of looting petrol pump staff and another of forcibly taking a Swift car, besides some petty crimes.

Hisar, June 25
With the arrest of two women and a man with narcotics at Hansi, the Hisar police has busted a gang of drug traffickers, who lured youths to drug addition and eventually to commit petty crimes.

B Satheesh Balan, SSP, Hisar, said today that Poonam (24) of Jagdish Colony, Hansi, was arrested with 10 grams of charas while Bimla (45), a resident of Sisai, was arrested from Hansi with charas and smack.

Sanjay of Jagdish Colony, Hansi, was also arrested with charas.

"The three have revealed that they used to bring the contraband from Rohtak, where it came from UP. The accused used to target teenaged boys between the age of 14 to 20 as their customers," Balan said.

He revealed that the accused operated on Samadha Road of Hansi.

The SSP said the youths who purchased narcotics from the accused for their daily needs eventually landed in the world of crime to earn money for their addiction.

Most of these youths are in petty crimes like thefts, snatching etc, Balan said. 

Kurukshetra, June 25
The police has arrested Inderjeet Singh, a resident of Samundra in Hoshiarpur district (Punjab), for allegedly duping a person of Rs 10 lakh on the pretext of sending the complainant’s son to Italy.

District police chief Rakesh Kumar Arya said Raj Kumar, a resident of Sirsala, had lodged a complaint with the police alleging that Inderjeet Singh and his two accomplices had duped him of Rs10 lakh for sending his son, Rakesh, to Italy. He had neither sent his son to Italy nor returned the money.

A case was registered on December 29, 2010.

Inderjeet Singh was today produced in a local court which remanded him in judicial custody.