IT Department Carries Out a 15 Hours Survey at BCCI Headquarters

The Central Income Tax Department officials carried out a 15-hour survey of documents at the headquarters of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) at Cricket Centre, inside Wankhede Stadium.

BCCI’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Rahul Johri and Chief Finance Office (CFO) Santosh Rangnekar were sent notices asking them to appear for a personal hearing office today.

According to Mirror, the search was related to the TDS deductions and statements BCCI has been submitting to the I-T department. The BCCI pays crores annually in the form of TDS for various payments.

Initially, five or six I-T officials came to the Cricket Centre, but as the day went ahead, more than dozen or so officials joined the first batch. There was no immediate information at the time of going to press on whether the investigators had taken any documents with them when they left.

Speculation raised when Rangnekar excused himself to join the Indian Premier League (IPL) Retention Program as the survey was still on. He returned only after the IT official asked him to come back.

“It was shocking to note that the CFO left the office, leaving the responsibility of handling the I-T officials in the hands of his staff. If he had gone to attend the IPL event, well, he had no role there,” a senior BCCI member told Mirror.

According to the source, BCCI has been asked to make an immediate payment of Rs 19 crore to avoid being an “assessee in default,” in compliance with provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961. But it is not clear if this payment demand relates to the January 4th and 5th survey.

However, Rangnekar admitted the survey was normal.

“It happens every year-end. It happens with every corporate [entity],” he said.

When asked why the I-T officials were present in the BCCI offices till beyond 2.30 am, Rangnekar said that this too was quite normal.

“They wanted to finish the whole thing in one go. So it is normal,” he added further.

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