Bengaluru, April 24: Income Tax officials on Tuesday raided offices and homes of 11 government contractors in Bengaluru and Mysuru in poll-bound Karnataka for alleged tax evasion, a senior official said.
"Raids were conducted by officials of the I-T Investigation Wing on one contractor in Bengaluru and 10 in Mysuru. They work on state government's projects through tendering," Income Tax Department Joint Commissioner G. Ramesh said in a statement here.
Denying reports in a section of the media, including news channels, Ramesh said that the office or residence of Public Works Department Minister M.C. Mahadevappa was not searched in Bengaluru or Mysuru.
"No Minister's premises was raided as reported by some media channels," he clarified.
Election to the 224-member Assembly will be held on May 12, with vote count on May 15.
The officials seized Rs 4.13 crore and 4.52 kg gold jewellery valued at Rs 1.32 crore during the raids across the southern state in the last three weeks.
"Of the Rs 4.13 crore seized, Bengaluru accounts for seizure of Rs 2.47 crore and Ballari Rs 55 lakh," Ramesh said in a statement on April 21.
The mine-rich Ballari town is 330 km from Bengaluru.
The Income Tax Department had stepped up surveillance and in view of the elections.
In one of the raids, officials seized Rs 55 lakh from a person. In another case, household articles valued at Rs 9.51 crore intended for distribution were found stored in a warehouse near Mysuru.
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Allahabad HC dismisses petition seeking permission to mount loudspeaker on mosque
Prayagraj, Jan 24 (PTI): The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday dismissed a writ petition seeking direction to the state authorities to permit the mounting of loudspeakers on a Masjid.
The court observed that the religious places were for offering prayers, therefore the use of loudspeakers was not a matter of right.
Dismissing the writ petition filed by Pilibhit-resident Mukhtiyar Ahmad, a two judge-bench, comprising Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Donadi Ramesh, observed, "Religious places are for offering prayers to the divinity and use of loudspeakers cannot be claimed as a matter of right, particularly when often such use of loudspeakers create nuisance for the residents".
At the outset, the state counsel objected to the maintainability of the writ on the grounds that the petitioner was neither a mutawalli, nor did the mosque belong to him.
The court also noted that the petitioner did not have locus to file the writ petition.
The term 'locus' is a legal concept that refers to the right of a person or entity to participate in a legal proceeding or bring a lawsuit.
