Shah Rukh Khan's Alibaug Farmhouse Attached By Income Tax Department

The income tax department has provisionally attached Deja Vu Farms Pvt Ltd, owned by Shah Rukh Khan at Alibaug...

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Shah Rukh Khan's Alibaug Farmhouse Attached By Income Tax Department

Shah Rukh Khan’s Alibaug farmhouse, where he often conducts parties and get-together, the most recent one being his birthday bash (Nov 2), has been attached by the Income Tax Department.

According to a report in Business Standard, the attachment notice was issued under the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act (PBPT) in December, 2017.

The business portal spoke to a senior I-T officer who confirmed the development and said, “Under Section 24 of the Act if the investigating officer believed that the person is benamidar, he can issue the attachment notice to that person or beneficial owner (if identity is known).The law says that the attachment of the property can be done for a period not exceeding 90 days from the date of issuance of the notice.”

As per IT department, the circle rate of the attached property is Rs 146.7 million.

Deja Vu Farms is a luxury property and is spread over an area of 19,960 sq metres, well-equipped with amenities such as a swimming pool and private helipad.

Reportedly, an e-mail was sent to Shah Rukh Khan’s company Red Chillies Entertainment and Kolkata Knight Riders's chief executive officer on January 24 but it remained unanswered despite several reminders.

The major allegation against SRK is that he had made an application to purchase agricultural land for farming, but instead constructed a farmhouse at Alibaug for personal use.

According to the IT investigation report, 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.

The report also states that according to the Maharashtra Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, without the permission of the collector or state government, one cannot transfer agricultural lands to non-agriculturists.

“The intention behind incorporating Deja Vu was to purchase agricultural lands which at present were being used by SRK as his farmhouse. Since Khan could not have purchased the said land in his individual capacity, a mechanism was devised in the form of Deja Vu, which showed its activity as farming. Deja Vu Farms was incorporated by two shareholders-- Srinivas Parthasarathy and Somasekhar Sundaresan in the year 2004. In December 2004, the share transfer certificates were signed by the first shareholders in the name of Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan. The first director was replaced by three directors--Ramesh Chhiba, Savita Chhiba and Moreshwar Rajaram Ajgaonkar on the same day,” the report noted.

Here are some more highlights from the IT investigation report as stated by Business Standard:

-SRK lent an unsecured loan of Rs 84.5 million to Deja Vu Farms.

-In 2011, Namita Chhiba was appointed as director of Deja Vu in place of Ajgaonkar.

-The IT investigation revealed that till date, the company has not shown any income from farming activity. The investigation report suggests that all the unsecured loans from SRK were being used towards the purchase of land by Deja Vu. Also, Ramesh Chibba, Savita Chibba and Namita Chibba are Shah Rukh Khan’s father-in-law, mother-in-law and sister-in-law, respectively.

-The only income source of the farm was by way of the loan which was advanced by SRK to his company, which ultimately was owned by the actor himself.

-The report alleged that the control of the company was always with SRK as the directors are relatives of the actor.


Image Source: Manav Manglani & twitter/ab