IT department summons TN Health Minister's wife in tax evasion case

Chennai: The Income Tax (IT) department on Wednesday issued summons to Tamil Nadu Health Minister C Vijayabaskar's wife.

She is expected to appear before the tax investigating team.

Earlier this month, several income tax officials raided Vijayabaskar's Greenways Road residence and other locations in Pudukkottai and Trichy.

In his defence, Vijaybaskar said the income tax department was harassing him despite his full cooperation.

Nearly 100 sleuths of the IT department along with security personnel had last month conducted searches at over 30 locations across the state belonging to the official residence and properties owned by Vijayabaskar and also at the home of Sarath Kumar in Chennai.

The searches on the premises of an associate of the minister allegedly revealed routing of Rs 89 crore for "distribution to voters" in RK Nagar Assembly constituency which was supposed to go to the polls on April 12.

Vijayabaskar, who is a prominent loyalist of the AIADMK (Amma) faction, had slammed the raids by the I-T department saying, "their intentions were not fulfilled."

"They have not seized any unaccounted money or documents. Their intentions are not fulfilled by the raids," he had said.

But the Election Commission cancelled the bypoll in RK Nagar, after examining the documents submitted by IT officials.