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April 10, 2007 19:23 IST
Income Tax authorities at Mumbai have posed 33 questions to Hutchison Essar managing director Asim Ghosh as part of the summons issued to him under section 131 of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
The summons were issued on March 27 - around the same time the department asked Hong Kong-based Hutchison Telecom International to pay capital gains tax on the sale of its holding in Hutchison Essar to Vodafone.
The queries posed include details about when Ghosh acquired shares of Goldspot Mercantile Company, his source of investment in the company and the reasons for the creation of a subsidiary - Plustech Mercantile Company, which in turn set up another subsidiary Centrino Trading Company.
The Hutch-Essar stake sale to Vodafone is the focus of a multi-agency probe at the moment. A crucial meeting of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board is scheduled for April 12 to discuss Vodafone's application seeking approval of the deal.
While demanding extensive details of these companies (the composition of the board, the shareholders' minute books, statutory registers, audited annual report, latest trial balance sheet of Plustech), the investigative wing of the tax department has also asked Ghosh to clarify why he had been given the opportunity to acquire shares in Hutchison Essar.
Tax authorities have also sought to know the reason for the use of three layers of companies to acquire shares in Telecom Investments India, which owns 4.7 per cent of Hutchison Essar. They also want to know whether all of Ghosh's companies have been registered as non-banking finance companies and whether this was in compliance with RBI regulations.
The department has also asked Ghosh, the managing director of Hutchison Essar and a stakeholder in the company, whether HTIL can purchase 100 per cent of Plustech's equity at formula price. It also sought to know whether HTIL can acquire 97.5 per cent of Centrino's stake at par value.
Other questions pertain to HTIL's right to acquire 51 per cent of TIIL's equity and whether this violated FDI guidelines, and details of the security, Ghosh or his companies have provided to HTIL for the latter's stand by letter of credit to Plustech.
It is learnt that the matter will be taken up on April 12 after an adjournment was sought from the earlier hearing date of April 3.
The race for Hutch-Essar: Complete coverage
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