Om Prakash Chautala, the former Haryana Chief Minister accused Rahul Gandhi the General Secretary of tax evasion but the Congress leader denied the allegations outright saying that his land deals were all clear.
Om Prakash said that tax was not paid fully for a land purchase in a village in Palwal district. He also asked at a press conference in Jalandhar that the issue should be taken up by the sitting judge of the Supreme Court.
He alleged, "Rahul Gandhi purchased a piece of land measuring around 6.5 acre in Hasanpur village in Palwal district of Haryana in March 2008 but he has evaded paying taxes. He also got the land at Rs. 1.5 lakh per acre as mentioned in the land registration deed which was very low compared to the then government price of Rs. 8 lakh per acre," Mr. Chautala went on to add that the market price was then standing at Rs 35 lakhs.
Rahul Gandhi's office however had comeback with a strong rebuttal of ever single allegation. They said 6.456 acres of Sailab Land in Hassanpur Village, Tehsil Hodal, District Palwal in Haryana was purchased at a rate of Rs. 4.10 lakh per acre amounting to Rs 26.47 lakh.
"The prevailing Collector Rate for Sailab Land in Hassanpur Village, Tehsil Hodal for 2007-08 and as of March 3, 2008, the date of purchase was Rs. 1.5 lakh per acre," the office said.
The stamp duties of six per cent were paid totaling a sum of Rs. 1 lakh 58 thousand 820 on the purchase price of Rs. 26.47 lakh at a rate of Rs. 4 lakh 10 thousand six per acre (i.e. at over 2.7x the prevailing Collector Rate)," a release by the office of the Congress leader said. They quashed Chautala's allegations as false, baseless and fictitious while being defamatory.
Chautala aggressively replied saying that he had all the required proofs that can serve as evidence to his allegations. With confidence, Chautala said, "He is wrong. I have sent the proof to everyone. If they feel that there is something wrong, let there be an inquiry."
He added that it was the benevolence of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda that helped Robert Vadra to obtain lands worth several crores at dirt cheap prices. He also sought a probe into this issue by the Supreme Court.
(AW- Anil)
