Misa Bharti to face IT heat under new Benami law, stares at 7 years in jail

The IT department is set to apply the new provisions enacted under the Benami Transactions Act, 1988

Trouble is brewing for Misa Bharti, daughter of former Bihar chief minister, Lalu Prasad Yadav. The IT department has summoned her and she would have to present her view point in the first week of June.

The case on hand is a Rs 1,000 alleged benami land deal case and also tax evasion. The development followed the arrest of chartered accountant Rajesh Kumar Agrawal by the Enforcement Directorate on May 22. Agrawal is alleged to have aided in illegal transactions involving Lalu's kin.

Misa who will have to appear before the IT department with her husband, Shailesh Kumar will have to explain the transactions made to purchase the properties. The department had on May 16 searched multiple premises of about two dozen entities connected to this case and seized documents and computer hardware.

The allegation is that Misa and her husband had links with Ms Mishail Packers and Printers Private Limited-- which is suspected to have entered into benami deals for purchase of a farm house in Delhi's Bijwasan area.

The IT department is set to apply the new provisions enacted under the Benami Transactions Act, 1988, which became operational from November 1 last year The law provides for a maximum punishment of seven years in jail and a fine. The action under this new law will be over and above the legal proceedings under the Income Tax Act, 1961, which relates to charges of domestic tax evasion.

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