Essar Oil tax evasion

Tue Aug 18 2009, 02:40 hrs


Ahmedabad:
 
In a major setback to ESSAR Oil Ltd (EOL), the Gujarat High Court has dismissed its petition and allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to further investigate the case of criminal conspiracy, fraud and cheating registered against Chief Executive Officer Shishir Agarwal and vice-president P R Ashok. Some Customs and bank officials are also party to the alleged crime.

According to the details of the case, ESSAR is accused of evading customs duty of over Rs 36 crore in 1999. The company and its officials had allegedly hatched a conspiracy with Customs officials and paid only Rs 60 crore against a duty of Rs 96 crore.

The then Commissioner of Central Excise and Customs, M K Bhada, was one of the accused in the case along with some officials of the State Bank of Saurashtra. The CBI had booked the accused under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act.


Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/essar-oil-duty-evasion-cbi-gets-hc-nod-for/503261/