Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal, against whom the Income Tax Department has slapped a notice to pay dues, said on Friday he had not violated bond conditions when he was on study-leave from 2000.
The IT Department held that since he went back on leave within two years of joining duty, he had violated the bond conditions and demanded that he return two years' salary amounting to Rs. 3.54 lakh with an accumulated interest of Rs. 4.16 lakh. It also demanded return of the balance of computer loan of Rs. 51,950 with an interest of Rs. 1.04 lakh.
“I have not violated any condition and all leave was sanctioned as per service rules. Even so, the government has the power to waive any bond conditions in the public interest. Since I was working on the RTI Bill, the then Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes recommended waiver, but the Department of Revenue did not agree.”
Mr. Kejriwal said he donated Rs. 30 lakh he had won for Magsaysay and other awards and sought a waiver. For the computer loan, he asked the department to deduct the amount from his General Provident Fund that is still lying with the government. But he had not heard anything from the government since 2007 till now.
Referring to media reports linking his uncle, who died in a road accident five years ago, with the RSS, he asked what had his relatives to do with the anti-corruption movement. “If my uncle, who died five years ago, went to a shakha, what does it have to do with the movement? Officers are visiting my uncles in Siwani and Hissar, making all kinds of enquiries. So far they have not found anything. You can dig into our lives. We have absolutely no problem.”
