IT attaches South Mumbai property in benami case | Economic Times

The Income Tax department has provisionally attached a south Mumbai building, Al-Jabriya Court, under the Benami properties Act initiated against its buyer, Aslina Agro & Horticulture Private Limited, sources told ET. The said building was also probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in its money laundering case against Maharashtra State Minister of Food and Civil Supply, Consumer Affairs, Chhagan Bhujbal and his nephew Sameer over alleged irregularities in the construction of Maharashtra Sadan. That probe is still underway. The attachment forms part of the I-T department’s ongoing probe against Aslina Agro & Horticulture Private Limited under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions (PBPT) Act, 1988. The department however hasn’t summoned Bhujbal or his nephew in the said matter and the present investigation focuses on the company and its directors. The department issued a show cause notice – under Section 24 (1) of the PBPT Act --to the director of the company earlier this month, saying it had sufficient information to investigate the firm. Section 24 (1) deals with notice and attachment of properties involved in benami transactions. The department has acted on the complaint given by social activist Anjali Damania.