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MULTI-CRORE OCTROI EVASION

Thane municipal body drags police to court

Shibu Thomas I TNN 

Mumbai: In an unprecedented development, one arm of the government has moved the B o m b ay high court against the other. 
    The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has filed a criminal writ petition alleging inaction on the part of the Thane police to probe a multi-crore octroi evasion case and has sought an inquiry by an independent agency like the CBI, the CID or the economic offences wing. 
    The allegation of octroi evasion is against a cola giant and its distributors in Thane. “It is just the tip of the iceberg. The offence runs into crores, but the police are not investigating the case in the proper spirit,’’ said advocate Mohan Tekavde, counsel for the TMC. 
    According to the TMC, the Daigar police, where the FIR was registered in September 2009, refused to record the statements of its officers naming the main accused—the officers of the cola company. 
    “They have deliberately not included the main accused and conspirators despite several requests,’’ the petition claimed. “This is an act of bias with the intention to protect the accused.’’ 
    The case concerns the FIR against owners and staff of M/s Sana Agency, who are distributors for the soft drink company. According to the complaint, fake octroi bills and forged documents were used to evade octroi duty, which was due to the TMC. While the accused are in jail since the last six months, Tekavde says the company has refused to pay up the octroi to the tune of over Rs 2 crore. 
    The TMC said that they had issued letters to the Thane police commissioner and deputy commissioner but to no avail. “The police showed no interest in recording the statements of our officers,’’ the corporation said, adding, “There is a definite pattern in the continuing unlawful activities, where the accused have adopted illegal means to amass wealth by evading octroi.’’ 
    The petition is expected to come up for hearing this week.