The office of Stamp and Registration Department here, which had issued a notice for alleged stamp duty evasion to co-chair of the Lokpal Bill Drafting Committee Shanti Bhushan and his three children, today fixed May 30 for further hearing in the matter following a reply filed on behalf of the renowned lawyer.
Mr. Bhushan, his two sons Jayant and Prashant and daughter Shefali were issued a notice in February this year for alleged stamp duty evasion to the tune of Rs 1.3 crore in course of purchase of a property worth nearly Rs 20 crores situated in a posh locality of the city.
Emerging from the department office on the last date for replying to the notice, the Bhushans’ lawyer Sangam Agarwal told reporters, “It has been stated that the Rs 2,000 paid towards stamp duty was perfectly in order”.
He, however, declined to divulge further details.
Later, Stamp Commissioner K P Pandey told reporters that he will conduct a “spot inspection” of the property, spread over 7.818 acres in the posh Civil Lines locality, on May 20 and the matter will subsequently be taken up for further hearing on May 30.
Mr. Bhushan, a renowned lawyer and a former Union Minister, used to reside as a tenant in the bungalow situated on the land before moving to New Delhi in the 1970s.
The Bhushans, however, did not forgo the possession of the bungalow which involved them in a litigation with its owners - Harimohan Das Tandon, Sudhir Tandon and Satish Tandon.
Later, the litigation was withdrawn in the wake of the ’agreement to sell’ between the two sides whereby a portion of the property was purchased for Rs one lakh and for which stamp duty of Rs 2,000 was paid.
