The Income Tax department has provisionally sealed Bollywood Baadshah Shahrukh Khan‘s Alibag farmhouse. The property is spread in an area of 19,960 sq meters and the circle rate of the attached property is Rs 146.7 million. But the market price would go up to five-fold. The Farms consist of a swimming pool, helipad and a beach.
“The said transaction falls under the definition of “benami transaction as per the Section 2 (9) of the PBPT Act, where Deja Vu Farms has acted as benamidar for the ultimate benefits of SRK. Thus, the actor is a beneficiary for the said under the prescribed law,” said I-T investigation report submitted to adjudicating authority while seeking provisional attachment, according to the report.
The Maharashtra Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act does not allow transfer of agricultural lands to non-agriculturists without the permission of the collector or state government. Khan bought the land in Alibag for agricultural purposes but built a farmhouse instead, this being the major offense committed by Khan. I-T investigation said that to date, the company had not shown any income from farming. The report suggests all the unsecured loans from Khan were used by Déjà Vu for purchasing land.
The issue had come to the front in November 2017, when District collector Vijay Suryavanshi claimed that a bungalow purportedly owned by the actor along the Thal seafront in Alibag was among 87 farmhouses on which Suryavanshi’s office had sought legal opinion to take action for alleged Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) violations.
“Any person aggrieved by the order of the adjudicating authority can file an appeal to the appellate tribunal within 45 days from the date of the order. An appeal against the order of the tribunal may be referred to the high court within 60 days,” explained the Income Tax Department official.
An email sent to Khan’s company Red Chillies Entertainment and Kolkata Knight Riders’ chief executive officer on January 24 remained unanswered despite several reminders.
Déjà Vu Farms was issued under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions (PBPT) Act in December. It also allows for prosecution of the beneficial owner, the benamidar and the abettor to benami transactions, which may result in rigorous imprisonment up to seven years and fine up to 25 percent of the fair market value of the property.
Provisional attachment of Déjà Vu Farms is the first big case against actor Shahrukh Khan.