Mumbai: The Mumbai bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has ruled in favour of a woman who was saddled with an addition of Rs 80 lakh to her taxable income after the income-tax (I-T) department questioned a property payment made directly by her husband to the property seller. The husband, who was working in Dubai, made this payment on her behalf through authorised channels.The ‘Insight Portal’ of the I-T department revealed that she purchased immovable property for Rs 1.4 crore during the financial year ended March 31, 2016. This portal tracks high-value financial transactions and helps identify any non-payment of tax.During scrutiny proceedings, the I-T officer accepted that certain payments had been made from her Indian bank account. However, questions were raised on a sum of Rs 80 lakh that was paid directly to the seller by her husband, on her behalf.Her husband remitted the amount in two instalments of Rs 40 lakh each through a Dubai Exchange Bureau directly into the seller’s account. Since the remittance did not pass through the wife’s bank account and she could not produce documentary evidence such as the exchange bureau’s remittance records, the I-T officer treated the amount as an unexplained investment under Section 69, which would be taxable at a significantly high rate in her hands.Before the ITAT, she submitted that the source of the entire investment was fully explained and duly supported by documentary evidence. She furnished a complete reconciliation of the Rs 1.4 crore purchase consideration — including the direct payment made by her husband.She submitted a copy of the registered sale deed, gift deed executed by her husband, his affidavit confirming the payments, bank statements, and other supporting documents to establish the flow of funds and the genuineness of the transaction.The ITAT noted that the tax authorities did not dispute the identity of the husband, his financial capacity to make the payment, the fact that Rs 80 lakh was credited into the seller’s account, or the genuineness of the gift deed, affidavit, and other supporting documents.The ITAT ruled in her favour and held that there was no justification for treating the amount as an unexplained investment merely because a particular remittance record from the Dubai Exchange Bureau was not available. Tax experts point out that the ITAT rightly adopted a holistic approach.

Cops found 200 mule bank accounts across five states to deposit siphoned Rs 7.9 crore; the businessman did not believe when real cops went to alert him and approached them two days later after his bank balance went to zero and scammers asked him to take a loan to transfer more funds

Mumbai: A 73-year-old businessman from Andheri (West) registered an FIR on July 21 at the West cyber police station against unknown persons who allegedly kept him under digital arrest for two weeks from July 5 to 18 and made him transfer Rs 7.9 crore to half a dozen bank accounts, including one in Delhi, on the pretext of verifying the source of money he earned. Cyber police said they saved at least Rs 1.1 crore of the total amount so far.The senior citizen filed the complaint after realising he was being duped when the scammers kept demanding more money and asked him to take a loan after his bank account got empty. Police said the scammers threatened him by claiming his Aadhaar card and PAN card were used to open a bank account for a money laundering case related to Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal registered in Delhi.“The probe found at least 200 mule bank accounts were opened in at least five different states to transfer the funds that were duped from the senior citizen from Andheri. We could have saved a larger sum had he believed our cyber police when they even took help of local police officers in uniform to convince him, but he didn’t,” said DCP (cyber) Bajrang Bansode.Bansode said cyber police and local police officers in uniform visited the senior citizen’s home for two days after the police received an alert from the Delhi police about the fraud and funds getting credited to a mule bank account in Delhi that was used by scammers in the cyber fraud. Police said the businessman did not believe the officers and did not allow them to step in to talk, and kept denying that he was not a victim of any fraud.“The Delhi police team, after freezing the account, gathered information of all those account holders who transferred the funds to it and started calling the victims. However, the Andheri senior citizen did not respond to the call. This made them contact us through the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) intelligence team in New Delhi to communicate with the victim after noticing continuous fund transactions were carried out from his account,” he said.The fraud began on July 5. The complainant said: “I received a WhatsApp call at 11.30 am. The caller told me that he was from the Delhi police and that they needed to interrogate me as my bank account was used in a multi-crore money laundering case related to Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal registered there.”The complainant said he believed the caller as the WhatsApp number had a Delhi Police display picture. “They told me that since the case was related to national security, they would investigate it with extreme confidentiality and therefore, I should not tell anyone at home about it,” he said. “Later, I received a WhatsApp video call for the ‘interrogation’. The caller identified himself as Rahul Gupta from Delhi Police. He said that my Aadhaar card details had been used to open an account in a nationalised bank and Rs 7 crore had been deposited in the account, which was related to the money laundering case. He also threatened to send an arrest warrant via WhatsApp. I got scared and ended up losing money.”

Resident groups and activists have urged CM Devendra Fadnavis to cancel land allotments.

MUMBAI: Resident groups and activists have written to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis seeking his intervention to cancel the allotment of three reserved open spaces in Juhu and Andheri (West) to the Shri Vile Parle Kelavani Mandal (SVKM).TOI had last week reported that BMC and MHADA had allotted three plots to the trust.The Gulmohar Area Societies Welfare Group (GASWG) and RTI activist Anil Galgali have urged the CM to ensure the plots remain reserved open spaces, accessible to the public in accordance with the Development Plan (DP).The BMC has proposed allotting the 12-acre Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Sports Complex in Andheri (West) to SVKM at an annual rent of about Rs 21 lakh along with a 50% share in revenue.

3 plots, 16 acres

Separately, MHADA has allotted two open spaces measuring nearly four acres in Juhu and DN Nagar to the trust.One of these, Lokmanya Tilak Udyan in Juhu, is currently maintained by the BMC and used by local residents. The allotments have also been opposed by Mumbai BJP chief and MLA Ameet Satam.In a letter to the CM, GASWG said the plots are reserved gardens, playgrounds and recreation grounds that are held in public trust and cannot be handed over for the exclusive use of a private trust.“If the BMC finds these plots inadequately maintained, the remedy is to allocate municipalfunds and personnel, not barter away public land,” the letter stated.It was signed by Ashok Pandit, Bharat Shetty and architect PK Das.Galgali demanded immediate suspension of both proposals, disclosure of all documents and feasibility studies related to the allotments, and continuation of BMC management to ensure unrestricted public access.SVKM president and BJP MLC Amrish Patel denied any irregularities, saying due process had been followed.“We will utilise these plots for creating sports facilities for 52,000 students. There will be no construction,” he said. MHADA Vice-President Sanjeev Jaiswal, Chief Officer Milind Borkar and BMC Additional Commissioner Avinash Dhakane did not respond to TOI’s queries.

Model Rhiya Yadav, who went viral during the NEET protest in Mumbai, has approached the Maharashtra Police cyber cell

MUMBAI: Model Rhiya Yadav, who went viral after stopping a police van carrying protesters during the NEET paper leak protest in Mumbai, has approached the Maharashtra Police cyber cell alleging online harassment following the incident, she said on Monday.Rhiya said she had filed an online FIR a few days ago and later visited the cyber cell after receiving a call from the police.While several people praised Rhiya and supported her online following the incident, she said she was also subjected to harassment.Speaking to ANI, Rhiya said she had filed an online FIR a few days ago.She later received a call from the cyber cell, following which she visited the Maharashtra Police cyber cell on Monday.“Many will appreciate you and support you, but there are also some who choose to speak against you. Everyone has the right to express their opinion, but no one has the right to degrade someone, malign their reputation, attack their dignity publicly, or make statements suggesting that a person does not have the right to live. I would also like to clarify that the movement we started was not for any political party, religion, or individual. It was for all of us,” she said.Rhiya said she wanted to take a stand against the online harassment and encourage others facing similar situations.“As a woman, I want to tell others who may be facing similar situations that they are not alone. I am taking this stand to show that I will continue to speak up and stand for what is right,” Rhiya added.The 37-day-long agitation culminated in Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigning on Saturday afternoon.The Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), which withdrew its protest from Jantar Mantar after receiving assurance from the government over its demands, had initially started as a satirical social media account following CJI Surya Kant’s remarks.The protest site, which is usually barren, witnessed a large gathering of youth and students who joined the CJP-led agitation with creative banners and Gen Z slang.After more than a week of protest, the movement gained fresh momentum when Ladakh activist Sonam Wangchuk joined the agitation and became the face of the protest with his 26-day-long hunger strike.Six student union leaders also went on hunger strike alongside Wangchuk.Three were reportedly hospitalised, while the other three ended their fast on July 20.Jantar Mantar drew large crowds after Delhi Police took Wangchuk to Safdarjung Hospital from the protest site.He was later shifted to a private hospital in Gurugram on the Delhi High Court’s order.The agitation peaked on July 20 with the ‘Chalo Sansad’ march, which was met with police action against protesters.The action drew criticism from the Opposition, while Delhi Police maintained that the protest had turned violent.Pressure increased following nationwide protests after July 20, with several Opposition leaders also joining the movement.Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav, senior CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat, CPI MP P Sandosh, former Delhi education minister Manish Sisodia and Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad were among the leaders who joined the CJP at Jantar Mantar.(With ANI inputs)