AHMEDABAD: Income tax department has flagged two alleged bogus political donation networks involving transactions of more than Rs 725 crore, with separate complaints filed with CID crime’s Economic Offences Wing. The complaints state that unrecognised political parties were used as vehicles to generate fake donation receipts, facilitate tax deductions, and return money to donors in cash after deducting commissions.The two complaints relate to Garib Kalyan Party and Swatantrata Abhivyakti Party, both described in the complaints as registered unrecognised political parties (RUPPs).
How the two rackets worked
In both cases, some taxpayers allegedly transferred money to a political party’s account through banking channels and obtained donation receipts to claim deductions under Section 80GGC. The funds were subsequently routed through intermediaries or sham business entities, withdrawn, and allegedly returned to donors in cash.In the Garib Kalyan Party case, income tax department has alleged bogus donations of Rs 206.8 crore from FY 2022-23 to FY 2025-26. The FIR names Neeraj Kshatriya, president of GKP, party secretary Dhananjaysingh Rajput, and treasurer Dheeraj Kshatriya.The FIR also names Abhishek Tiwari, the alleged facilitator/intermediary and proprietor of Krishna Enterprises; Pradeepsingh Parihar, proprietor of Jalaram Enterprises; and three chartered accountants: Kuldeepdan Taperia, Ashokkumar Shah, and Pankaj Agrawal.Donors allegedly claimed deductions of Rs 134.5 crore. The complaint further refers to aggregate credits of Rs 1,295.8 crore in the accounts of Krishna Enterprises and Jalaram Enterprises, while noting that this figure may include transactions involving other parties and entities.The second complaint alleges that Rs 519 crore passed through the bank account of Swatantrata Abhivyakti Party (SAP) during FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25. The FIR names Surendra Tiwari, national president of the party; tax consultant Mehulkumar Khatri; and CA Mayursingh Rathod.Investigators allege that the money was routed through Jay Trading Company, described in the complaint as a shell entity.The alleged commission in the first case was 5%-7%, while it was 8%-9% in the second.Income Tax department alleges that the parties had little or no genuine political activity. The complaints also allege that chartered accountants helped prepare, certify, and digitally upload documents on govt portals.In Garib Kalyan Party case, the department has estimated an alleged loss to the govt exchequer of about Rs 62 crore. In Swatantrata Abhivyakti Party case, the alleged loss is pegged at Rs 156 crore, calculated at 30% of the alleged Rs 519 crore donations.
