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Lottery row: tax officer suspended

Special Correspondent

Failure to impose penalty on Megha Distributors for delayed payment of tax

Thiruvananthapuram: The ongoing row in the lottery case took its first victim with the Sales Tax Department on Thursday suspending A.A. Abdullah, Assistant Commissioner, Palakkad division, from service for his failure to impose penalty on Megha Distributors, purported to be agents of Sikkim and Bhutan State lotteries, for delayed payment of tax.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac said the Taxes Secretary had sent a fax message to the Sikkim and Bhutan government's seeking to know whether Megha Distributors was their authorised agents. He had sought a response within one week, the Minister said.

Dr. Isaac maintained that the decision to accept advance tax from the lottery agent was within the purview of the existing law. The official concerned had imposed only a levy of 24 per cent annual interest. Under the existing law, there is no bar in accepting the delayed payment with charge of 24 per cent annual interest. However, the Sales Tax Department, in its inquiry, had found that the penalty at the rate of Rs.1,000 a day and a minimum of 10 per cent of the tax had not been imposed for the delayed payment. The agent is required to pay one month's advance tax, but had paid the amount on the third of the month and launched the draw on the 17 {+t} {+h}. This amount came to Rs.1.82 crore. Under the law, the discretion to fix the rate was vested with the Assistant Commissioner and the penalty could be as high as 50 per cent of the tax amount, he said.

The Taxes Department was yet to name the new Assistant Commissioner to replace the suspended official, but the new incumbent would be asked to re-examine the penalty issue, Dr. Isaac said.

VS calls for Central law

Staff Reporter writes from Alappuzha: Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan has said that only a Central law can effectively rein in lottery kings from other States who reap crores as profit from the State.

Speaking at the flag-off ceremony of the Left Democratic Front's south zone campaign march against Central policies at Vaduthala, near Aroor, here on Thursday, Mr. Achuthanandan said there was no Central law that could curb the illegal money-spinning tactics of lottery agencies and influential agents who had pushed aside the State lottery system.

The Centre had failed to bring in any law to control such practices and the existing State law had its own limitations. However, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition, despite the efforts of the Ministers concerned to explain the legal steps initiated, continued to disrupt Assembly proceedings, he said.

Mr. Achuthanandan said the LDF was ready to face any elections including the coming local body polls. Citing the 50 per cent reservation for women in local bodies, Mr. Achuthanandan said women had already shown that they could run the house admirably. “Let them run grama panchayats, municipal councils and corporations in the same manner. We should support them…,” he said.

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