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Misa's wedding gifts come under I-T scrutiny

Gifts given to Laloo Prasad Yadav's daughter, Misa Bharati, during her marriage on December 10, 1999, have come under the income tax department's scrutiny.

In all 125 politicians, many of them ministers in the Rabri Devi cabinet, have been served notices asking them whether they had presented the gifts as claimed in the I-T returns filed by the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief.

The latest I-T action comes on the heels of the department's decision to slap a fine of Rs 1.8 million on Laloo Yadav for suppressing taxable income between 1991-92 and 1996-97. This was in addition to Rs 11.9 million penalty imposed earlier.

The I-T notice may either affect the ruling family of the state or those who have presented the gifts. If the politicians deny that they gave the gifts, the onus to explain those items would be on Laloo Yadav and Chief Minister Rabri Devi.

And if the politicians accept they gave the gifts, they will have to give proof of how they procured them. They will also have to furnish original bills.

Besides, they will have to explain whether the gifts find mention in their I-T returns.

The latest move has also stirred up a controversy as RJD leaders have questioned why notices were served only to those belonging to the party, when expensive gifts were given to Misa by top politicians belonging to other parties as well. In fact several Union ministers from Bihar, besides actor Shatrughan Sinha, Samajwadi Party leader, Mulayam Singh Yadav, state Governor Vinod Pande etc also attended the marriage and came with gifts.

Though on the record none of the politicians are willing to comment, the truth is that all have given expensive gifts to Misa. One former minister told rediff.com a few months back that he gave Rs 25,000 as a gift.

The position of former ministers like Basant Singh is interesting. He was minister at the time of marriage. But during the February assembly election he was denied a ticket and turned against Laloo Yadav.

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