Searches carried out at 56 totally different areas throughout Karnataka, Kerala: CBDT (Representational)
New Delhi:
The Revenue Tax Division has detected an alleged cash-for-seat rip-off working in some Karnataka-based medical faculties, because the CBDT mentioned over Rs 400 crore blackmoney has been generated within the title of capitation charge by these establishments.
An announcement issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes mentioned these alleged irregularities have been discovered after 9 main trusts, registered in Bengaluru and Mangaluru, working academic institutes, together with medical faculties have been raided on Wednesday.
“Searches have been carried out at 56 totally different areas throughout Karnataka and Kerala,” the CBDT, which frames coverage for the tax division, mentioned.
“To this point, the proof gathered signifies that Rs 402.78 crore has been accepted as unlawful capitation charge by manipulating the web admission course of and the identical has not been disclosed to the Revenue Tax Division,” it mentioned.
It mentioned money quantity of Rs 15.09 crore has been seized and gold jewelry value Rs 30 crore (weighing 81 kg), 50 carat diamonds and 40 kg of silver articles have been discovered from the residential premises of the trustees and are prime facie, unexplained.
“Proof of undisclosed international property of Rs 2.39 crore in Ghana has additionally been discovered aside from proof of giant investments in 35 luxurious vehicles in benami names,” the CBDT mentioned.
Describing the alleged modus operandi, the CBDT mentioned it was discovered that the clear choice course of to medical faculties by way of the Nationwide Eligibility cum Entrance Take a look at (NEET) has been “subverted” by trustees and key individuals working these establishments in collusion with brokers/brokers and a few college students who obtained excessive ranks within the NEET examination.
“The primary stage of malpractice is that some high-ranking college students within the NEET examination take admission to MBBS programs by way of state counselling (who don’t have any intention to hitch the mentioned faculties as they’ve secured admissions or more likely to get admission elsewhere).
“Thereby blocking seats within the medical stream in a medical school through the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) counselling course of, in connivance with brokers, middlemen, converters (who present service of changing the common seats to administration seats).” it mentioned.
The CBDT mentioned, later, these college students withdraw from the admission course of, thereby making the vacant seats out there for the school administration.
Such seats are made out there to the school administration for filling up by way of the “stray vacancies spherical” (seats remaining vacant or unfilled in a school after a mop-up spherical), it claimed.
On this spherical, the assertion claimed, the seats are stuffed by the school administration by admitting much less meritorious candidates (low rank in NEET) after amassing big sums as capitation charge, donations in money that are unlawful underneath the Karnataka Academic Establishments (Prohibition of Capitation Charge) Act, 1984.
“The capitation charge/donations are collected by way of a community of brokers/brokers employed by the important thing individuals/trustees of those medical faculties,” it claimed.
The CBDT mentioned that “the search operation resulted in detecting incriminating proof relating to cash-for-seat malpractices for admission to MBBS, BDS and PG seats within the type of notebooks, handwritten diaries, excel sheets containing the main points of money acquired from college students/brokers for admission in these faculties for numerous years”.
“It was additionally noticed that the administration, school, employees, meritorious college students and brokers are working in shut nexus to govern the web admission course of,” the CBDT mentioned.
It added that there’s proof indicating that one of many medical faculties have some kind of ”bundle association” for passing administration quota college students in written examination and viva voce for a set sum starting from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh.
“There’s proof which prima facie means that the money cash accepted by manipulating the web admission course of in these faculties has been diverted for non-charitable objective by the trustees, which is clearly in violation of Part 12AA of the Revenue Tax Act, 1961.
“Other than this, proof has been discovered relating to a lot of investments made in immovable properties with big money element attracting provisions of Part 69 (unexplained deposits) of the Revenue Tax Act, 1961,” the CBDT alleged.
It added that one of many faculties has diversified into the enterprise of timber/plywood industries the place proof relating to underneath invoicing has additionally been discovered.