Sinha informs Rajya Sabha on IT raids

Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha told Rajya Sabha members during question hour on Tuesday that the income tax authorities were probing the documents seized during the nationwide raids on players, officials and bookies on July 20- 21. According to UNI, Sinha said "No conclusion has so far been drawn from them and added that the income tax norms were not violated during the raid."

On Samata Party leader Jaya Jaitley's complaints and subsequent meeting with him, Sinha in a statement clarified that "On reaching the premises, the IT officers came to know that it did not belong to Ajay Jadeja. There they met Jaya Jaitley and her daughter who extended full cooperation to them." Sinha added that "Ms Jaitley had met me the day following the raid and denied she made any phone calls to anyone in order to seek prevention of the raids on the premises."

In reply to a question, Sinha said it was not for the Finance Ministry to make any recommendation including banning of players allegedly involved in match-fixing. While the Minister of State for Finance Dhananjay Kumar replied that the raids on players, officials and bookies were conducted under sec 132 of the IT Act, he also pointed out that assets worth Rs four crores so far had been seized during the course of the nationwide raid.

Jadeja in the meantime, was scheduled to meet the IT authorities on Tuesday. This is the second time within a week that he has been summoned by the authorities for questioning. He is expected to be grilled by the department sleuths on the basis of the raids carried out at his residence and office during the third week of July. Earlier on August 3, Jadeja was questioned for over seven hours by the authorities after his lockers were opened on his return from London on August 1.

Former Indian captain Kapil Dev is also expected to be called by the agency for questioning. IT sources said "We will call him at a convenient time." Kapil's earlier statement was recorded soon after the raids on July 20 and 21. Apart from these two cricketers, the agency will question three bookies in the coming days. Sources also said that, if necessary, some officials of the department may be sent to England to question Ajay Sharma.