Need Tally
for Clients?

Contact Us! Here

  Tally Auditor

License (Renewal)
  Tally Gold

License Renewal

  Tally Silver

License Renewal
  Tally Silver

New Licence
  Tally Gold

New Licence
 
Open DEMAT Account with in 24 Hrs and start investing now!
« Direct Tax »
Open DEMAT Account in 24 hrs
 CBDT drops small tax demands but not TCS, TDS claims
 ITR Refund: Awaiting money from Income Tax? Here's why you have not yet received your amount
 Income Tax Notice: What to do if you receive a Section 143 (1) notice from taxman?
 Average tax return processing time cut to 10 days: CBDT
 7 types of Income Tax Notice ITR filers may receive for AY 2023-24
 ITR filing: Do these advance preparations before filing your income tax return
 What are the strategies to maximize tax refunds after submitting an income tax return (ITR)?
 ITR filing: Tax rules on income from house property that your should know
 CBDT likely to issue rules on angel tax next week
 Pension Taxation: Everything you need to know for ITR filing
 Income tax guide on pension: How to file pension income in ITR?

Finance ministry used secret funds to pay private sleuths
June, 30th 2011

Fearful that the office of its minister was being bugged, the finance ministry had instructed the Central Board of Direct Taxes ( CBDT) to use the secret funds of Income Tax investigation to engage a private agency to conduct a debugging operation after it was found that none of the revenue intelligence agencies under the FM had the wherewithal.

The finance ministry has under its arm the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau, I-T Investigation, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence and the Enforcement Directorate all, except for CEIB, having state-of-the-art equipment to intercept phone calls.

A private agency was hired to do the operation in the offices of FM and his close aides. Immediately after the operation, the FM's office removed the usual cleaners and housekeeping staff responsible for changing flowerpots, fearing that Intelligence Bureau (IB), under the home ministry, might have been using them to plant bugs in table corners or on flower vases.

During his interaction with a group of editors on Wednesday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that the intelligence bureau had conducted an investigation on a "need to know" basis and reported that no bugging had taken place. He indirectly confirmed that home minister P Chidambaram may not have known of the probe.

"I asked the IB to do a thorough check. The IB reported back to me that there was nothing of the sort," the PM said.

A former joint director of the Intelligence Bureau, who was representing the private agency hired by the FM for debugging operation, S K Gupta, told Times Now that he had identified 16 spots where bugs may have been pasted.

"I was called in last September by senior finance ministry officials to carry out a security audit. I found 16 off white adhesives in the offices," Gupta said, rejecting media reports that they were chewing gums. He said he had also submitted a report to the FM containing 11 recommendations.

However, playing down the controversy on hiring of an outside agency for a sensitive office like the FM's, Gupta, who is also the joint MD of the private agency BCL Security, said: "My checks were in an individual capacity".

Home | About Us | Terms and Conditions | Contact Us
Copyright 2024 CAinINDIA All Right Reserved.
Designed and Developed by Ritz Consulting