After its series of protests against the alleged sand mafia, Team Insaaf, led by independent MLA brothers from Ludhiana Simarjit Singh and Balwinder Singh Bains on Monday alleged that Fastway group was involved in a scam to the tune of Rs 12,377.86 crore through the evasion of income tax, service tax and other taxes payable to the state and central governments.
Refuting other allegations levelled by the brothers, Rajdeep said Fastway had no connection with Gujarat Telelink, adding that the company was using the infrastructure of Connect and other companies, not the poles of the electricity department. He claimed that entertainment tax of Rs 15,000 per annum was due to be paid by the company.
Earlier, addressing the media, Simarjit said: “The Fastway company, which is indirectly owned by the ruling Badal family, owes Rs 2,591.89 crore as service tax, Rs 4,729.7 crore as income tax, Rs 1,487 crore (tax deducted at source), and Rs 84 crore (entertainment tax), payable to state and central government agencies.” He further said that the Fastway group owed Rs 1,290.94 crore to the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), Rs 1,785.45 crore to the Punjab police, and Rs 408 crore to the civic bodies of the state for laying underground cables.
The Bains brothers said they had sent details of the scam to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and finance minister Arun Jaitley and asked the two leaders to take action.
“Fastway transmission private limited came into existence in 2008. Within five years, it had 14 sister companies. Founded with an investment of Rs 2.5 lakh, it earned Rs 6.5 crore in one year by doing a business of Rs 30 crore,” said Simarjit.
He also said that two directors of Orbit resorts owned by the Badal family, Yogesh Shah and Jagjeet Singh Kohli, had 49% share in Fastway.
To contest all assembly seats in 2017
The Bains brothers also announced that their Team Insaaf, which is working to expose the Badal family, would soon form a political party which would contest the 2017 assembly elections on all 117 seats in Punjab. They also hinted at a possible tie-up with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).