Central team raids Ramdev’s factory

Dehradun: As yog guru Swami Ramdev gets more vocal for Modi and anti-Congress, trouble seems to be mounting on him. A team of the central excise department raided his Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust in Haridwar and slapped a notice on it for evading taxes worth Rs 19 crores.

According to reports, the team took exception on the fact that a factory of the Trust was manufacturing soap, oil and other washes as face wash and hand wash, and not giving tax on them, when they did not qualify for tax exemption under ayurvedic produce. The team said that the manufacturing had been going on for over the last four years and products worth Rs 50 crores, on which tax had not been paid been manufactured.

They said that though the Trust had been given exemption on tax on certain ayurvedic products that its factory was producing, but the soap and oil that it was manufacturing as ayurvedic produce, did not qualify for tax exemption, which was why the tax had been slapped after going through the production records of the factory for over the last four to five years.

However, the central team denied that there was any vendetta in its raid on the factory owned by the yog guru, claiming that raids had been conducted at various other p-laces and notices had also been sent to a number of other producers who were allegedly evading tax. The Patanjali Trust has paid Rs one crore subsequently after the raid, tit claimed.

Jagdish Bhatt

A journalist with over 40 years of experience, Jagdish Bhatt was Editor, Hill Post (Uttarakhand).

Jagdish had worked with India’s leading English dailies, which include Times of India, Indian Express, Pioneer and several other reputed publications. A highly acclaimed journalist, he was a recipient of many awards

Jagdish Bhatt, aged 72, breathed his last on 28th August 2021 at his Dehradun residence.