Maya, Mallayya, Jaganmoha, CBI - all in news - common man has to e-file IT

BSP chief Mayawati has reasons to celebrate – more than a victory for her, it is a defeat to the premier agency ‘CBI’ – whichever way you look at it, it only helps Maya.  Going by the power equations with Presidential elections around, apprehensions are aroused on whether it was an error on purpose to save Mayawati or was it a genuine mistake.  Could the  qualified Agency interpret the Court order so badly ?  Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid termed the apex court judgment “of the highest order”, but refused to comment on it, saying he has not read it.

Once the utterance of the name aroused fear – perhaps not any longer. The Central Bureau of Investigation serves as criminal investigation body, national security agency and intelligence agency. It is also the nodal police agency in India which coordinates investigation on behalf of Interpol Member countries.  It was established in 1941 as the Special Police Establishment. The Central Bureau of Investigation was later established on 1 April 1963. Its motto is "Industry, Impartiality, Integrity".

People take loans – Banks are often instructed by the politicians, especially those at the helm to advance loan under various Governmental schemes, often the beneficiaries are politically connected persons, who fail to repay any interest nor the principal.  In a recent Lok Adalat, KVB which had advanced Rs.96000/- heard the case of the loanee, who had fallen to bad times due to an accident and was not in a position to repay.  The bank accepted a token amount of Rs.1000/- and closed the case.  Stray case, you would think !  Can a defaulter owing a public sector bank Rs. 40 crore persuade that bank to sanction him Rs. 150 crore in further loans before paying back a rupee? Can he get that bank to lower his debt to less than half of what he owed them? Can he have the terms of sanction amended repeatedly so that the personal guarantee demanded of him disappears? And can he get the bank to change the very purpose for which the loan was given? – today’s Hindu on first page writes of the  defaulter being United Breweries (UB) group headed by Vijay Mallya and the institution is Bank of Maharashtra (BoM). Perhaps all to prod King Fisher to fly again !!  As rightly said, farmers are routinely blamed for non-repayment and NPAs – they struggle to get tiny amount of loans and struggle on the field, rain fails, season fails, harvest fails, lack of storage facility, middlemen, low procurement price – they end up in tatters, some end their lives…………… some thrive !!!

Elsewhere, Vijayamma met leaders of political parties seeking their support in her campaign against the alleged harassment of her jailed son and complained to Chief Vigilance Commissioner about the "ulterior motive" of CBI in the case.  She is the mother of Congress rebel Jaganmohan Reddy and the honorary president of YSR Congress.  She met leaders of various political parties and sought their intervention in ending the "harassment" of her son and Kadapa MP Jaganmohan Reddy.  Vijayamma, MLA from Pulivendula seat which was held by her husband Y S Rajasekhara Reddy several times, alleged that there was a "greater conspiracy" to harass Jagan and that CBI was acting with "ulterior motive" in this case. In the memorandum, the YSR Congress alleged that Jagan was arrested on May 27 only to prevent him from campaigning in the by-elections, which his party swept. The YSRC won 15 out of the 18 constituencies and one Lok Sabha seat.

To put it straight, CBI is no political agency ! - It  requires a lot of intelligence to be part of the elite probe agency. In the course of their work they are expected to go through thousands of complex documents, which would be normally incomprehensible to ordinary people. But sadly over the years, the Agency is used as a tool to settle political scores, hound the opposition and remain mute spectators when instructed to, is the perceived belief. 

Another blow to CBI by the Apex Court yesterday [6^th July 12] quashed a CBI probe against BSP chief Mayawati in the disproportionate assets case maintaining that it never directed the agency to lodge an FIR exclusively against her. The CBI’s action had followed a 2002 court order seeking initiation of probe against state officials in the Taj Corridor case. It did not ask for any specific action against the former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

The CBI proceeded against Mayawati without properly understanding our order. Anything beyond Taj Corridor scam was not subject matter of this court. There is no finding and no material report pertaining to the DA case against Mayawati,” the court said. Interesting indeed. Where was the scope for the agency misunderstand the order?  -   Was Mayawati being framed by political rivals?  Was it the Congress’ handiwork to keep Maya at bay  or is she being let off scot-free as SP would allege !!  There have been reports that  Mayawati’s assets doubled from Rs 52 crore to Rs 111 crore between 2007 and 2012, nearly at one crore a month. Her affidavit for the Rajya Sabha a couple of months ago showed she owned immovable assets worth Rs 96.38 crore and movable assets over Rs 15.26 crore. She had jewellery worth around Rs 96.53 lakh. No small achievement this from a not so well off post office employee’s daughter.  If not a criminal case, a probe should be ordered just to ascertain how a politician’s wealth can grow this big just for academic interest.

For those of us  working Offices  and other monthly salary earners, remember that you must file your Income Tax return before 31^st of July 2012.  The rules called Income-tax  (3rd Amendment) Rules,  2012 further stipulate that “ an individual or a Hindu undivided family, if his or its total income, or the total income in respect of which he is or it is  assessable under the Act during the previous year, exceeds ten

lakh rupees, shall furnish the return for the assessment year 2012-13  and subsequent assessment years ” by filing e-returns…..

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.