Graft case: I-T officials under CBI lens

Several senior Income-Tax (I-T) officials are now under the scanner of the CBI for their alleged proximity with Sanjay Bhandri — a charted accountant who along with nine Indian Revenue Services (IRS) officers were recently booked by the CBI in a corruption case.

Sources said, “The CBI is analysing call data records of Bhandri. The agency may book some more senior I-T officials in this case.”

The CBI recently booked nine senior I-T officials, including principal commissioner Income-Tax (Delhi) S.K. Mittal, and three private persons in a corruption case.

There were allegations that these officials were availing favours, including stay at five star hotels, conveyance in the form of luxury cars and flight travel, at the expense of the chartered accountant and his sons and helping him in the cases of his clients as quid pro quo.

“During investigation, the agency has found a deep-rooted nexus between Bhandari and senior I-T officials who were allegedly giving favourable reports for his clients in lieu of favours received from him,” sources said.

The genesis of this case is another case registered by the agency in January 2015 in which Bhandari was named along with joint commissioner Sallong Yaden who was arrested while “receiving” the bribe amount from Shreyans Bhandari of S.H. Bhandari and Co.

The CBI on Wednesday registered case against I-T officials Mittal, Additional Commissioner (exemption) Bangalore T N Prakash, Deputy Commissioner (Exemption) Chennai R V Haroon Prasad, Deputy Commissioner (Investigation) Chennai S Murali Mohan, Commissioner (audit) Chennai Vijayalakshmi, Additional Commissioner Mumbai S Pandian, Commissioner Mumbai G Lakshmi Baraprasad, Additional Director General (systems) Ghaziabad Vikram Gaur and Additional Director (investigation) Mumbai Rajendra Kumar. Chartered accountant Sanjay Bhandari and his sons Shreyans and Divyang are also named as accused in the case.