Whistle- blower feels letdown

December 27, 2014 12:28 am | Updated 12:28 am IST - ELURU:

B.V.R. Chowdary, a resident of Yarnagudem in West Godavari district, has paid a heavy price for blowing the whistle that helped the Income Tax Department recover a huge chunk of unaccounted money from their possession in Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram districts. The local media published reports suggesting that Rs. 40 lakh in cash was seized in the first phase of the raid.

The Director-General of Income Tax had deputed a special team to carry out the raid following a tip-off from Mr. Chowdary, who said that the I-T officials had promised to pay him 10 per cent of the black money recovered as reward under the search and seizure scheme. He was asked to sign in the form-E register after the panchanama conducted over the raid and the seizure of cash. He feels `letdown’ by the I-T department after his long-drawn struggle lasting for nearly 14 years to receive the reward amount.

#There is no transparency at least in the department on the amount seized from the tax evaders, he lamented. He moved the Chief Commissioner, Income Tax Department, Central Board of Direct Taxes and Union Ministry of Finance seeking the Director General, Investigation cell of the I-T department, to provide him official data related to the seizure of cash and a copy of the e-register which contained his signature after. When there was no response from these agencies, he filed another petition under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking such information. But the I-T department allegedly refused to divulge information on the ground that the investigation cell of the I-T department did not come under the purview of the RTI Act.

#In the process, Mr. Chowdary said, he started facing the backlash from the persons accused of hoarding black money as one of the team members entrusted with raid allegedly revealed the identity of the informant. “Where is the security for informants like me who want to help the government unearth black money when the black sheep in the I-T department colludes with the tainted people involved in economic offences, he questioned.

BVR Chowdary Yarnagudem in West Godavari district.

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