In 2013 too: Nirmala on Taapsee, Anurag raids

March 05, 2021 18:39

In comments seen as defending income tax raids on Bollywood actor Taapsee Pannu and filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the same persons were raided in 2013 as well, but no issue was made out then as it is being done now.

Refusing to comment on individual cases, she said it is in the national interest to know if some evasion is happening.

"First of all, I am not commenting on any A or B individual. (But) since the names were taken, (I want to say) the very same names were raided in 2013," she said in an interaction with journalists at IWPC (Indian Women's Press Corps).

It "wasn't an issue (in 2013). It's an issue now," she said.

She, however, did not talk about the outcome of the 2013 raids and if any follow-up action was taken in the last seven years.

The Income Tax Department on March 3 began raids on the homes and offices of Pannu and Kashyap as well as his partners, who launched the now-shuttered production house Phantom Films.

The searches, part of a tax evasion probe against Phantom Films, carried out across 30 locations in Mumbai and Pune, also covered Reliance Entertainment group CEO Shibhasish Sarkar and some executives of celebrity and talent management companies KWAN and Exceed.

Asked to comment on the raids, Sitharaman spoke of the 2013 raids not being an issue and they suddenly become one now.

"Answer it for the hypocrisy or answer it, saying from then this is happening till now, what's the matter (with now)," she said. "In the national interest, do we want to know if there is some evasion happening."

-- PTI

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