The Income Tax department recently issued a summons to Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain, asking him to appear before it in connection with its tax evasion probe against certain Kolkata-based firms. The summons came after the IT Dept found a link between some firms being probed for black-money in Kolkata, with some firms in Delhi with which Satyendra Jain was linked.
Satyendra Jain on his part has made the following statements: “As an investor, I had made investment in these companies four year back, but I have nothing to do with these companies since 2013. Everyone knows it. It is a conspiracy “. In another statement, Jain even made a remark that he also held shares in Reliance Industries, hence his links with that company also need to be checked.
Delhi CM Kejriwal also was quick to issue a clean chit, much like the time he backed former AAP Minister Tomar in the fake degree scandal: “I summoned Satinder this morning. Saw all papers. He innocent, being framed. If he ws guilty, we wud have thrown him out. We stand by him”. In Tomar’s case, once guilt was proved, Kejriwal claimed he was shown fake documents by Tomar, hence one wonders about the credibility of such clean chits.
Satyendra Jain never denied links with the companies, nor did he deny owning shares at a point in time. But he painted a picture as if he was just a passing investor, with no say or control in any of the companies. And further he added that he had no connection with the companies since 2013. So are these statements tenable?
Four Delhi-based companies were named in the media, which were allegedly linked to Jain, three of which are: Akinchan Developers Pvt Ltd, Indo MetalImpex Pvt Ltd, and Paryas Infosolutions Pvt Ltd.
Akinchan Developers Pvt Ltd
According to documents filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), Jain was the founding promoter-director of the company, owning 25% of the company when it was formed. He himself signed the company formation application, and also signed the first audited Final Accounts of the company. Even the address used to register the company is the exact same address declared by Jain as his residential address in his election affidavit:
Jain continued to be a Director until July 2013, when he resigned due to “personal reasons”. In Feb 2015, Jain sold off his shares to his wife Poonam Jain, probably after he became a Minister in the Delhi Government. The address of the company was also changed in May 2015. According to the latest documents available on the RoC site, Poonam Jain continues to be a shareholder in ADPL and holds approximately 19% of the shares issued.
So when Satyendra Jain says he was just an “investor” at least in case of ADPL, he is plainly lying, and when he says he has “no connection”, it may be legally true, but the shares which he held, are now held by his wife.
As for ADPL itself, it is in the business of real estate and properties as per the MCA filings. The revenue from operations for the years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 is Nil. Income from other sources for the year 2014 is INR 3,08,90,001 which drops to INR 98,080 in the year 2015. As per the Balance sheet the Company holds an investment in agricultural land which costs INR 6,64,79,464. On 15th December 2015 1,00,916 shares were allotted for a premium of INR 190 per share to 7 Companies which are situated at Kolkatta or Howrah, one of which was raided by the IT Department.
Paryas Infosolutions Pvt Ltd
Satyendra Jain was first involved in Paryas Infosolutions Pvt Ltd (PIPL) from August 2007 when he was appointed as a Director. The Final accounts dated 31 March 2007 were signed by his wife Poonam. From August 2007 itself, the registered address of PIPL was changed to Jain’s residential address, the same which was used by ADPL. PIPL used this address till August 2015. In 2008, Jain and his wife owned the entire 10000 shares of the company. Both of them later extended loans to PIPL too.
As in the case of ADPL, Jain transferred his shares in PIPL to his wife in February 2015. Owing to shares being issued to other people, Poonam Jain’s net shareholding as on March 2015 was 1.74% in PIPL, yet even the latest Balancesheet was signed by her in her capacity as a Director.
Although the company’s name suggests otherwise, the Directors’ report of March 2015 stated that the main business activity of the company was pursuing investment in immovable properties. PIPL reported NIL turnover for the year ending 2014 and 2015. The only significant part of the balance sheet is that it holds agricultural lands costing INR 4,54,72,229.
Again, Jain cannot claim he was just an “investor” nor can he morally claim that as of now he has no connection with the company since even the latest available Balancesheet has been signed by his wife.
Indo MetalImpex Pvt Ltd
In Indo MetalImpex Pvt Ltd (IMPL) Jain and his wife were issued shares in March 2011. After this issue, they together held 23.53% of the shares of the company. In legal parlance, any share holding above 20% is considered to be of “significant influence”. The Final Accounts of March 2011 were signed by Satyendra Jain himself.
Again in February 2015, Jain transferred his shares to his wife Poonam. With this, at least till March 2015, Poonam was the single largest shareholder having 22.78% of the total shares of the company.
Again although the name suggests the company deals in import-export, the Directors’ report for March 2015 states that the main business of the company is to deal or invest in all kinds of properties. The balance sheet for year 2014 and 2015 shows Nil revenue from operations. IMPL owns agricultural land costing INR 6,90,49,527. The other significant point being it holds shares worth 56,00,000 in PIPL as per Balance sheet for the year 2015
IMPL also has about 31 other shareholders and most of which are based out of Kolkatta. 13 of these shareholders are companies sharing the same address: 85 Netaji Subhashchandra (NS) road. This was the address that was raided by the Income Tax Department in Kolkata.
All the above companies combined hold 18.33% in IMPL. Are these shell companies formed just to create a web of companies to avoid tracing the real person owning the company?
Again Satyendra Jain cannot claim to be a mere investor nor can he morally claim he has no connection with the company anymore since, his wife is the single largest shareholder, as per the latest data available.
Summary
Going by just the records available to public, one can say this: Satyendra Jain is intimately connected with these companies. All the companies are purely into the business of owning land properties in Delhi. Companies with the address 85 NS road, which were raided by the Income Tax for black-money and hawala transactions, own some portion in the above companies, either directly or indirectly. So if these Delhi-based companies are found to be involved in wrong-doing, it would be very hard for the Jains to avoid responsibility.
With inputs from @muglikar_
