Mohandas Pai flags ‘Tax Harassment’, Urges PM & FM to order open inquiry into raids

Bengaluru:

Investor and former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to order a “full, open and transparent inquiry” into the conduct of Income Tax (I-T) raids, flagging what he termed fear and harassment faced by taxpayers.

Pai’s remarks came in the backdrop of the reported death of a promoter linked to the Bengaluru-based Roy Confident Group during an ongoing inquiry by tax authorities.

In a post on social media platform X, Pai said aggressive tax enforcement had created an atmosphere of intimidation among citizens and businesses, describing the raid process as “very brutal” and “an assault on citizen rights”. He tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Finance Ministry, urging the Centre to “protect taxpayers from these kinds of attacks”.

Referring to past instances, Pai also cited the death of Café Coffee Day founder V.G. Siddhartha, alleging that “tax terrorism” had earlier taken a toll on entrepreneurs. He questioned whether officials are ever held accountable for wrongful raids and asked the Finance Ministry to release comprehensive data on collections made through searches and seizures, the quantum of cases stuck in litigation, and how often courts overturn such actions.

Pai further argued that over the past three years, record direct tax collections have been driven largely by voluntary compliance and technology, and sought clarity on how much revenue is actually realised through raids as compared to regular compliance mechanisms.

Meanwhile, the brother of the Roy Confident Group promoter alleged harassment by an Income Tax Commissioner and claimed the family had been under severe pressure during the inquiry process. Tax department officials had not issued an immediate public response to the allegations at the time of publication.

The social media post has since sparked debate over the balance between enforcement powers of tax authorities and safeguards for taxpayer rights, with calls from some quarters for greater transparency and accountability in search and seizure operations.