Congress, BJP & Akali Dal Exposed: They used to protect tax evaders : Harpal Cheema
Chandigarh, May 12
The Punjab Finance, Planning, Excise, and Taxation Minister, Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema, announced on Monday that the investigative wings of the state’s Taxation Department have detected transactions worth Rs. 1549 crore involving bogus billing or paper transactions and have successfully blocked fraudulent Input Tax Credit (ITC) claims amounting to Rs. 108.79 crore in the current fiscal year.
Addressing a press conference here at Punjab Bhawan, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema provided details on the enforcement actions undertaken by the state Taxation Department. He revealed that the department has blocked ITC worth Rs. 21 crore by exposing fake invoices of Rs. 900 crore in gold transactions in Ludhiana. Additionally, ITC worth Rs. 12 crore was blocked after detecting fraudulent invoices amounting to Rs. 226 crore in coal transactions across Mohali, Kharar, and Kotkapura. Further enforcement actions led to the blocking of ITC worth Rs. 75.79 crore by uncovering bogus transactions totaling Rs. 423 crore in Ludhiana and Mandi Gobindgarh. In another major seizure, authorities intercepted a vehicle traveling from Ranchi to Ludhiana carrying 2 kg of gold without an invoice, and the investigation into this case is currently ongoing.
Emphasizing the significance of these enforcement actions, the Finance Minister highlighted the landmark statewide operation conducted on May 19. As part of this operation, 195 GST-registered firms, including 156 centrally registered firms and 39 state-registered firms, were physically verified, revealing fraudulent paper transactions amounting to Rs. 423 crore and resulting in the blocking of ITC worth Rs. 75.79 crore. A majority of the implicated firms were located in Ludhiana (100 firms) and Mandi Gobindgarh (72 firms).
Highlighting Punjab’s significant enforcement actions under the GST regime, the Finance Minister revealed that the department has made notable arrests, including a high-profile case where an individual was apprehended for masterminding a racket involving fake invoicing and fraudulent ITC claims worth Rs. 29.50 crore. The firm in question had made inward supplies of Rs. 163 crore across FY 2023-24 and 2024-25 from over 60 bogus and cancelled firms.
Finance Minister Cheema credited the department’s success in carrying out these enforcement drives to the 15 modules developed under an agreement with IIT Hyderabad, along with crucial inputs from the ‘Bill Liyao Inaam Pao’ scheme. He announced that seven more such modules would be activated soon. So far, 4880 consumers have collectively won Rs. 2,89,15,295 by uploading their purchase bills on the ‘Mera Bill’ app. Meanwhile, discrepancies found in submitted bills under the GST Acts have led to the imposition of penalties totaling Rs. 9,07,06,102 and the successful recovery of Rs. 7,20,92,230.
Mentioning the year-on-year growth in GST collection, the Finance Minister underscored the achievements of the AAP-led Punjab government, which has collected Rs. 62,733 crore in three years. He compared this to the Rs. 63,042 crore collected by the Congress-led state government over five years, stating that these figures speak for themselves. He asserted that while the AAP government has fostered trade growth and implemented stringent checks against tax evaders, previous administrations focused solely on amassing wealth for themselves.
Taking a firm stance against opposition parties, Finance Minister Cheema criticized the Congress, BJP, and Akali Dal for their unfounded claims against the government’s enforcement activities. He said that these parties were colluded with tax evaders in the past to siphon off the hard-earned money of honest taxpayers. He said that now that the government has tightened its grip on tax evasion, these parties are desperately trying to shield their allies from scrutiny.
