JCCI writes to Amit Shah over ‘intentional targeting of biz community in Jammu’
Jammu: The Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industries Thursday wrote to Home Minister, Amit Shah alleging “intentional targeting of business people of Jammu Province”.
In a letter addressed to Shah, President JCCI, Rakesh Gupta alleged that there had been “hollow claims being conveyed by the state administration to the Government of India as well as the panic and scare created by the Income Tax Department and the State Taxes Department by intentionally targeting the business people of Jammu Province”.
The chamber said it was “becoming common practice to conduct raids at the premises of business people particularly in Jammu Province which has left us perplexed, baffled and astonished”.
“We would like to clarify that the JCCI has always stood by the government as far as the collection of taxes is concerned because we strongly believe and advocate that the tax collections are imperative for the nation building,” the JCCI added.
The chamber said that it was “surprising” that during the ongoing summer vacations during which the business community usually enjoy the holidays, “Income Tax Department and the State taxes Department are targeting the honest tax payers and even raiding the closed establishments thus spoiling the family holidays and sitting at the closed premises waiting for the owners to come back from their holidays”.
The JCCI also said that though the Amarnath Yatra commencing from the first week of July was “of prime importance to the people of Jammu province religiously but these actions by the tax departments are spoiling the peaceful atmosphere and leaving one and all in a chaotic situation”.
The chamber alleged that “corruption is at its peak and being done by the babus holding high positions and almost a situation of Inspector Raj is prevailing that is most unfortunate and unfriendly for the business world”.
“The real culprits have been left free as the State Police Vigilance Department and the State Accountability Commission are almost non-functional,” the JCCI alleged.
The chamber has urged Shah “to take effective corrective steps to pave the way for Central Investigating Agencies to take action and nail the real tax evaders who have accumulated enormous wealth through rampant corruption”.
It also urged the Home Minster to pass necessary directions to the concerned department “to act with caution as the business community is struggling to survive and on the verge of closure on account of numerous reasons and desist from conducting raids and surveys without any apparent reasons or justification”.
The JCCI also sought to update Shah about the “total non-implementation policy of ‘Ease to do Business’ and also suggest some corrective steps that would both be in the interest of booming economy and the nation”.
Press Trust of India
