New Delhi, September 25: After Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa's wife Novel Singhal, the bureaucrat's sister Shakuntala Lavasa has also been served a notice by the Income Tax department. Shakuntala, who is a pediatrician, received the I-T notice in August -- the same month when Singhal was summoned by the tax department under Section 13A of the Income Tax Act. Ashok Lavasa Dissented Against Clean Chit to PM Modi, Amit Shah in MCC Violation Complaint.

Shakuntala, according to reports, has been asked by the I-T department to explain the purchase of a house by her in 2017-18. She had paid Rs 1.86 crore to buy the Gurgaon-based residence from her brother Ashok Lavasa.

Meanwhile, Lavasa's son Abir Lavasa has come under the tax department's radar as I-T officials recently surveyed the books of accounts of Nourish Organic Foods -- a firm in which he is the director. The I-T has red-flagged "two suspicious transactions" involving the company dating back to 2008-09 and 2010.

Probe Deepens Into Lavasa's Wife Case

Lavasa's wife has been issued a notice by the department to explain certain details in her IT Returns (ITR) with regard to holding directorship in about 10 companies, they said.

The officials said after preliminary investigation, the tax department has asked her to provide more documents related to her personal finances.

The department is looking at the ITRs of Novel Singhal Lavasa to ascertain if her income has escaped assessment in the past or something has been concealed from tax authorities, they said.

The probe into alleged tax evasion and holding of directorship in multiple firms against the former banker pertains to a time period between 2015-17, they said. No comments were available from either the election commissioner or his wife.

Ashok Lavasa was appointed election commissioner on January 23, 2018, after he retired as the Union Finance Secretary in the previous year.

His difference of opinion, with regard to the implementation of the model code of conduct (MCC), with Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra was reported during the recently-concluded general elections.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 25, 2019 10:44 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).