The Income Tax probe into the disproportionate assets amassed by former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda has received a jolt. Three days after the second round of countrywide raids, the finance ministry has transferred the Patna- based director of I- T (investigation), Ujjwal Kumar Choudhary, who was supervising the case, reports Mail Today from Delhi.
The department of revenue, under the finance ministry, on Friday designated Choudhary, who had taken charge around a year ago, as the commissioner of income- tax ( central) in Patna.
The new unit assesses important tax cases. Present incumbent Ajay Kumar and Choudhary will swap positions. Along with Choudhary, 16 other commissioner- level officers were also transferred.Giving their names, the order said: “ The following local transfers/ postings of officers in the grade of commissioner/ director of income- tax are hereby ordered with immediate effect.” Choudhary refused to get into the merits of his transfer at a time when the probe into the Koda case was at a crucial juncture.
Sources said Choudhary was under pressure for some time because he went after Koda and his powerful associates, especially Binod Sinha.He is said to have told senior I- T officials that he faced a threat to his life from influential people who have come under the scanner because of the case. An official said “ messages” were sent to Choudhary that he should go slow on the case.
Choudhary wasn't aware that he had been removed from his post as he had been camping at Chaibasa — Koda's native place and constituency — for the last four days. An official in the Central Board of Direct Taxes ( CBDT) said it was wrong to deduce that Choudhary's transfer was connected to the case against the Chaibasa MP. That is because when investigations end, the case will be referred to the unit Choudhary will head now for assessment, the official added. Generally, CBDT officials, he claimed, were annoyed because Choudhary was easily accessible to the media.
However, it is rare to come across an instance when a senior officer is shifted out during the course of a probe conducted by the I- T department. On Tuesday, 60 places were searched by a team of IT sleuths. Searches at the premises of Manohar Lal Paul, the private secretary to Jharkhand CM Shibu Soren, and hawala operator Ajay Bafna in Pune is believed to have yielded documents that are said to be crucial to the case. Sources said the team was able to lay its hands on documents establishing the illegal investments Koda and his associate Sinha have allegedly made in Dubai.
