January 30,2018:

Major allegation against Shah Rukh Khan is that he had applied for purchasing agricultural land for farming, but instead constructed a farmhouse there for personal use.

Income-Tax (I-T) Department has provisionally attached Bollywood Actor Shah Rukh Khan’s farmhouse in Alibag, a beach town in Maharashtra.

Attachment notice was issued to Déjà Vu Farms under Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions (PBPT) Act in December,2017.

Confirming the development, a Senior I-T Officer stated that under Section 24 of the Act, if investigating officer believed that the person was benamidar, he (the officer) could issue the attachment notice to that person or the property’s beneficial owner (if his or her identity was known).

According to the Act, Attachment of the property could be for at most 90 days from the date the notice was issued, he said.

Circle rate of attached property is Rs 146.7 million. However, the market price would be five times more, said another I-T official.

Considered a luxury property, the farmhouse is spread over 19,960 square metres and has amenities such as a swimming pool and private helipad.

I-T investigation report, submitted to Adjudicating Authority, while seeking provisional attachment states that,“The said transaction falls under the definition of benami transaction as per the Section 2 (9) of the PBPT Act, where Déjà Vu Farms has acted as benamidar for the ultimate benefits of Khan. Thus, the actor is a beneficiary for the said under the prescribed law”.

Business Standard has reviewed the copy of the attachment and the investigation report.

The report says the Maharashtra Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act debars transfers of agricultural land to non-agriculturists without the permission of the collector or the state government.

Since Khan could not have purchased the land in his own name, Déjà Vu was used as a front for farming.

Citing the filings with Ministry of Corporate Affairs, the I-T department said Déjà Vu Farms was incorporated by two shareholders Srinivas Parthasarathy and Somasekhar Sundaresan in 2004. In December 2004, the share transfer certificates were signed by the first shareholders in the name of Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan.

First director was replaced by three Directors Ramesh Chhiba, Savita Chhiba, and Moreshwar Rajaram Ajgaonkar on the same day, the report noted.

Khan gave an unsecured loan of Rs 84.5 million to Déjà Vu Farms.

Since it was a piece of agricultural land during the time of representation, Ajgaonkar declared himself an agriculturist. Accordingly, the additional collector allowed the purchase of the land on condition that it would be used for farming within three years.

In 2011, Namita Chhiba was appointed director of Déjà Vu in place of Ajgaonkar. The I-T investigation said that to date, the company had not shown any income from farming. The report suggests all the unsecured loans from Khan were used by Déjà Vu for purchasing land.

The report said that Ramesh Chibba, Savita Chibba, and Namita Chibba were Khan’s father-in-law, mother-in-law and sister-in-law, respectively.

Only source of income of the farm was by way of the loan advanced by Khan to his company, which ultimately was owned by the actor himself.

Any person aggrieved by the order of the adjudicating authority can file an appeal to the appellate tribunal within 45 days from the date of the order. An appeal against the order of the tribunal may be preferred to the high court within 60 days.

Business Standard

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