Chennai: Relatives will be permitted to meet Vaikundarajan, says I-T officers

Chennai: The income tax authorities have informed the Madras high court that they would permit the close relatives of sand mining baron S.Vaikundarajan, in whose residence and other premises connected to him, the

I-T sleuths are conducting raids, to meet him without any hindrance to the ongoing probe. Additional solicitor general G.Rajagopalan made this submission when the habeas corpus petition filed by B.Kamaraj, a close relative of Vaikundarajan came up for hearing before a division bench comprising Justices C.T.Selvam and Nirmal Kumar on Friday.

ASG Rajagopalan said as there is a suspicion that there is a huge tax evasion, the I-T officers are conducting the raids on the premises connected to Vaikundarajan. There is no illegal detention and the raid may continue for one or two more days. Vaikundarajan is not arrested and only raid is going on. There is no restriction for the relatives to meet him, he added.

Recording the same, the bench posted to October 29, further hearing of the case. According to the petitioner, he prefers the present HCP for curtailing the illegal detention of his daughter and her family, who have been detained by the officials of the income tax department for more than 24 hours and they were not taking any steps to release them.

His daughter Sumana Velmurugan, his son-in-law Velmurugan, his elder brother Subramanian and her father-in-law Vaikundarajan, who was a leading industrialist having multiple companies, were illegally confined in their house by the I-T officials, he alleged.

He said it was reported in newspapers that the I-T officials have seized some documents and money (kept for distribution to employees for Deepavali festival as bonus) during their operations. There were more than 3,000 persons engaged in various companies in various places by Vaikundarajan. The I-T officials began their operations in the morning hours of October 25 and have since been inside the house. They refused to permit any communication or any person to enter or leave the premises.

This information was known to him, when he visited his daughter in person as his attempt to contact her over phone went in vain, he added and sought a direction to the authorities to produce them before the court and set them at liberty.

According to the petitioner, he prefers the present HCP for curtailing the illegal detention of his daughter and her family, who have been detained by the officials of the income tax department for more than 24 hours and they were not
taking any steps to release them.