During a search on Modi last year, I-T had unearthed a list with details of jewellery bought in cash and chequ... Read More

NEW DELHI: The income tax department has reopened returns for reassessment of income of at least 50 high net worth individuals in Delhi who had bought diamonds and jewellery from Nirav Modi , including Abhishek Singhvi’s wife , in cash and with unaccounted income.

I-T department officials said all of them had admitted to making cheque payments but denied the cash portion paid to Modi. The department has started reopening returns of such individuals and is reassessing their income since 2014-15 assessment year and adding cash transactions to their income despite objections filed.

Gautam Yadav, political leader Yogendra Yadav’s relative who was searched two days ago in Rewari, is one such individual. The tax department found that Gautam Yadav, who runs a hospital in Haryana, had Rs 15 crore worth of unaccounted transactions.

Anita Singhvi, wife of senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, had earlier filed her response to the I-T notice on purchases from Nirav Modi stores. All those who were served notices, including Anita Singhvi, admitted to purchase of diamonds and jewellery. However, they said they paid by cheque and refused to admit to cash payments.

Sources in the tax department said any document seized during a search had to be seen and accepted in its entirety. “One cannot say half of it is true and the other half is wrong,” a source said.

In Anita Singhvi’s case, she was sent a notice in February to explain the source of Rs 5 crore in cash she had used to buy jewellery from Modi. She had purchased jewellery worth over Rs 6.8 crore of which Rs 1.58 crore was paid by cheque and the rest in cash for which she had provided her PAN, sources said.

During a search on Modi last year, the I-T department had unearthed a list with details of jewellery bought in cash and cheque. The department investigated people who had paid in cash and mapped them through their PAN. Anita Singhvi’s name was one of them.

The I-T department has also sent such notices to people in Mumbai and other cities. However, in the first round, notices were sent only to people who had purchased jewellery for Rs 5 crore and more.

