Operation Gentlemen: Now it's taxmen's turn

Just in case you thought the cricket controversy is over now that five former and current players have been punished, wait. The income tax department is waiting in the wings with a report of its own.

The department has reportedly found amazing amounts of tax evasion. But it's not about to rush to a clutch of television cameras with the details. It is working on a trap that it believes will leave little to chance or clout. It plans to ask the players under investigation to file "block returns" of income and assets acquired over the last 10 years. The department will then match these returns with what it has found during the investigations.

"Differences will clearly pin the guilty," a source says. And unlike the CBI, which finds itself unable to prosecute those found involved in match-fixing because the proper laws are lacking, the income tax department has no such problem. Innovative isn’t it?

The taxmen have also shown they have a sense of humour — the investigation against the players is named "Operation Gentlemen". Remember, cricket was once, and that's not a very long time ago, called a gentleman's game!

But the details that they have so far are hardly the kind to make you smile or laugh. Under investigation allegedly are seven cricketers — Kapil Dev, Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Ajay Sharma, Manoj Prabhakar and Nikhil Chopra, some officials and bookies.

Three of the above have been let off the hook by the CBI, but they aren't likely to find equally sympathetic investigators in the tax department. That is, if the size of the dossiers, with annexures, on each of them is any indication.

These players are naturally concerned, and at least one of them is said to have volunteered to pay "whatever tax liabilities are due ... to clear his name." Another player is supposedly trying his clout. Will they succeed?

You'll have to wait for the first assessment report, which is due by November-end. As of now the findings include:

a) Massive under-reporting of earnings by a player from an ad-film he starred in. The amount shown as commission given to the agents is much higher than what he himself received as his fee.

b) The business associate of the same player is said to have filed returns for a mere Rs 42,000, while the IT sleuths have already discovered unaccounted wealth worth Rs 37 lakh. And they are still counting.

c) This business associate is believed to have been found making abnormally high number of calls, about 250, every time India played a big match.

d) A car of foreign make, received by a player abroad, has also come under scrutiny as the department believes tax is due for it.

e) The department has found unaccounted transactions worth crores against another player. They also found Rs 2 crore in a bank account in his wife's name.

f) Several flats owned by the same player in Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad were never mentioned in the tax returns filed by him. The couple, say sources, also spent lavishly when travelling abroad.

g) Evidence has also come of extravagant trips abroad by other players.

Sources say the first notice to players asking them to file "block returns" should be out by the first week of December. They will be given 30 days to reply. If their returns match with what they owe the tax department, they'll be charged tax at the rate of 60 per cent plus the penalty, which may be three times of the tax liability.

If, however, the "block returns" fall short of what is actually due, the player concerned will be in solid trouble. Under Section 276CC of the Income Tax Act, they can expect a hefty penalty or even seven years in jail. (Hindustan Times)