ITAT Member’s suspension order in Rs 30 Lakhs bribery case

Update: Article / news item that appeared in a Gujarati newspaper.

F. No. C- 13011/3/2008-Vig.
Government of India
Ministry of Law and Justice
Department of Legal Affairs
4th Floor, ‘A’ Wing, Shastri Bhavan
New Delhi, Dated the 15th may 2008.

O R D E R

Whereas, a case against Shri Jugal Kishore, accountant Member, Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Kolkata Bench, under section 120-B IPC read with section 7 and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, is under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Now therefore, the President, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-rule (1) (b) of Rule 10 of the CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965, hereby places the said Shri Jugal Kishore, Accountant Member, Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Kolkata Bench, under suspension with immediate effect.

It is further ordered that during the period that this order shall remain in force, the headquarters of Shri Jugal Kishore, accountant Member, Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, should be Kolkata and the said Shri Jugal Kishore shall not leave the headquarters without obtaining the previous permission of the undersigned.

(By order and in the name of the President)

(T.K. VISWANATHAN)
SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

Article that appeared in the Times of India of 10th June 2008

Bribery Case – Son of nabbed CA is under CBI watch too
C Unnikrishnan Times News Network

Mumbai: The CBI is on the lookout for Ravi Tulsian, son of high-profile chartered accountant S K Tulsian who was arrested recently by the CBI in Kolkata for conniving with an member of the income tax appellate tribunal to fix a case.

Ravi, who is also a chartered accountant, is suspected to be involved in the bribery case being investigated by the CBI. Sources said that Ravi, who operates from his Kolkata office, is not traceable and has apparently left the country. Some chartered accountants from Mumbai, who apparently hired the services of S K Tulsian for obtaining favourable orders, are also under the CBI’s scanner, sources said.

S K Tulsian, who has his offices in Kolkata and Mumbai, is known in the income tax circles as a CA who could get orders in favour of his clients. In one of the high-profile cases involving a big corporate, he had got a search warrant cancelled two years ago.

TOI has now learnt that S K Tulsian had a free run for a long time, though some of the officers had brought it to the notice of the central board of direct taxes (CBDT).

Sources said that S K Tulsian began spreading his network to Chennai where some of the influential lawyers appearing in tax matters had objected to forcing CBDT to initiate action against him.

“Tulsian’s proximity to a senior income tax official helped him establish base in Kolkata. After the official got transferred to Mumbai, he extended his network here and Tulsian’s growth was fast,’’ a retired income tax official recalled.

Article that appeared in the Times of India of 9th June 2008

Arrest of high profile CA blows lid off racket
C Unnikrishnan Times News Network

Mumbai: The recent arrest of chartered accountant S K Tulsiyan by the CBI (Kolkata) is likely to open a can of worms. Tulsiyan was held in mid-May along with two of his employees and an accountant member of the income-tax appellate tribunal (ITAT), who was in the process of “settling’’ a case.

The two employees were earlier caught red-handed while handing over Rs 30 lakh to the ITAT member, Jugal Kishore, to pass a favourable order for his client. The Calcutta high court rejected Tulsiyan’s bail application on May 29; he is now in judicial custody.

The chartered accountant was active in Mumbai and Kolkata where he had his main office. CBI sources said they were hopeful of establishing his links with some of the top I-T officials.

Sources in the I-T department said he managed to obtain favourable orders by bribing or threatening them.

“The officers had only two options—either fall in line or expect a transfer to a side posting,’’ a senior I-T official said. Tulsiyan, a native of Bihar, was the preferred chartered accountant for some well-known corporate bigwigs once they realised that they did not stand a chance to get a favourable order on merit. One of his pointsmen in Mumbai was a chartered accountant attached to a big corporate, sources said.

Citing a case involving a well-known corporate, an official said, “The matter was represented by some of the best legal brains but they lost. Tulsiyan took charge of the case and got the order reversed by filing a miscellaneous application in ITAT. He even had the clout to prevent department representatives from appointing special counsel to appear for them. Some of the matters were transferred to the ITAT benches where members of his choice were posted.’’

In I-T matters, in case the department or the assessee is aggrieved by an order of the assessing officer, the first appeal is preferred before the commissioner (appeals). The next stage of appeal is before the ITAT, followed by the high court and the Supreme Court.

There is also an option of approaching the settlement commission, where on admission of tax evasion, an order to pay tax with interest is passed.

Tulsiyan’s influence went to such an extent that favourable orders were prepared by him and passed to the officers is some of the cases.

A CBI official told TOI that they recovered CDs and computers during a raid on Tulsiyan’s office. “It is an undisputed fact that a large number of officers never challenged him. We are aware of his modus operandi and expect to gather some evidence. We hope to get some details from the CDs and hard disk,’’ a CBI official said.