Denying bail to income tax inspector Tanaji Adhikari, arrested in 2023 Rs 264 crore money laundering case, a special PMLA court pointed out that while in custody he had sent a note to an associate asking him to contact various persons and to take action by fixing all the officers involved. The note was allegedly recovered by Enforcement Directorate during his house search.
The judge said this note prima facie reflects Adhikari’s mentality. “…in case, he is released on bail, he will try to influence the witnesses.. tamper with the evidence and on this count itself, the accused himself is not entitled for being released on bail,” special judge AC Daga said.
In a separate order in the same case, the judge rejected the bail plea of his associate Bhushan Patil.
ED had submitted that Adhikari would use login ID and passwords of his senior officers in the income tax dept to clear the bogus tax deducted at source (TDS) refund claim in Patil’s company account. Within a year, from Nov 2019 to Nov 2020, Adhikari cleared 12 fraudulent TDS refunds amounting to Rs 264 crore. A large part of the cheated money was transferred into Patil’s account.
In 2022, CBI registered a cheating case after naming Adhikari, Patil and four other unknown persons.
Seeking bail, Adhikari’s lawyer submitted that he is falsely implicated, and that the entire probe is based on documentary evidence and all documents are in the custody of the investigating agency.
Source #TOI
