Most payments made to vendors for the lavish wedding of the daughter of former Minister and mining baron G. Janardhan Reddy were through cheques, initial investigation by the Income Tax Department has found.
Bills were submitted to the department after it sent out notices to the former Minister as well as the vendors. Officials have found that there were very few cash transactions. Mr. Reddy’s chartered accountant submitted details of the wedding expenditure on Wednesday.
Amid intense speculation in the media over the cost of the wedding, sources in the department said that investigations suggested that the actual cost “may have been much lower than speculated”. Their initial estimates suggest the cost was about Rs. 25 crore.
However, they hastened to add that they would have a clear picture only after the final assessment.
The much-hyped wedding of Mr. Janardhan Reddy’s 21-year-old daughter, Brahmani, on November 16, at Palace Grounds in Bengaluru, had received national attention, and the I-T Department had asked Mr. Reddy to submit details of the expenses incurred.
Mr. Reddy is believed to have explained to the department that his family’s old gold jewellery was exchanged for new gold jewellery for the bride, according to sources. He is also believed to have sought more time to provide further details on the jewellery.
After verification of all records and bills submitted by the former Minister G. Janardhan Reddy and vendors for the wedding, the Income Tax Department is expected to arrive at a final figure on the expenses incurred over the next couple of weeks.
Sources said that a few more bills are to be submitted.
While Mr. Reddy, who was served a notice to submit the bills, appeared before the I-T sleuths on November 25 and sought time for submission of bills, his chartered accountant appeared before the department and produced the documents on Wednesday.
Sources said actor Saikumar, who was given the contract to replicate a temple in Hampi at the Palace Grounds, and other arrangements, also appeared before the I-T Department last Friday, and submitted bills.
