Taapsee Pannu and film director Anurag Kashyap is on radar of IT
The Income Tax Department has questioned actress Taapsee Pannu and film director Anurag Kashyap in Tax evasion case. Both were questioned for 11 hours. The Income Tax Department suspects malfunctions in the functioning and transactions of Anurag Kashyap's production company Phantom. At the same time, giving a political colour to the raid, Congress said that this income tax raid is the result of speaking against the Modi government.Anurag Kashyap and Taapsee Pannu are outspoken critics of the government and have lent their voice to various causes, including the ongoing farmer protests against central laws. Recently, Ms Pannu had criticised the show of solidarity by celebrities towards the government in response to pop star Rihanna's post drawing attention to the farmers' agitation. The actor took a jibe at the pushback and questioned "one tweet" rattling one's belief.Income Tax officials today raided properties linked to filmmaker Anurag Kashyap and actor Taapsee Pannu in Mumbai over alleged tax evasion, sources said. Both are being questioned by income tax officials in Pune.
Searches took place at 30 locations in Mumbai and Pune, including premises linked to a talent agency as well as Phantom Films, which was co-promoted by Anurag Kashyap, producers Vikas Bahl and Madhu Mantena.Anurag Kashyap and Taapsee Pannu are outspoken critics of the government and have lent their voice to various causes, including the ongoing farmer protests against central laws.Exceed Entertainment and its promoters are also being searched. Exceed has been managing Saif Ali Khan for several years. Some executives of Kwan Talent Management, which manages actor Deepika Padukone, are being questioned.
"The Income Tax department probes someone based on whatever information they get. The issue goes to court later," Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said during a BJP briefing.The Income Tax Department is carrying out searches at over 30 locations in Mumbai and Pune, including the premises of Bollywood actress Taapsee Pannu and film director Anurag Kashyap. Reportedly, the searches at the premises of these Bollywood personalities are in connection with an apparent "tax evasion" matter. Amid these I-T raids, Pannu and Kashyap have found support in actress Swara Bhasker and filmmaker Anubhav Sinha.The raids began Wednesday morning and continued till late night. Reportedly, it was resumed on Thursday morning. The searches, part of a tax evasion probe against Phantom Films and carried out across 30 locations in Mumbai and Pune, also covered Reliance Entertainment group CEO Shibhasish Sarkar and some executives of celebrity and talent management companies KWAN and Exceed.
Tax department sources shared with the news agency that some inter-linked transactions between the entities searched are under the scanner of the department. The raids, they added, are aimed at gathering more evidence to further probe tax evasion allegations against them.Pannu and Kashyap, both known to be outspoken in their views on a range of issues, are shooting in Pune and are understood to have been questioned by the tax sleuths as part of the preliminary questioning that takes place during raids.The others searched include some Phantom Films production house employees, which was dissolved in 2018, and its then promoters Kashyap, director-producer Vikramaditya Motwane, producer Vikas Bahl and producer-distributor Madhu Mantena.
Extending her support, Bhasker took to Twitter to share 'appreciation post' for both Pannu and Kashyap. "Appreciation tweet for @taapsee who is an amazing girl with courage and conviction that is rare to see now days.. Stand strong warrior!" she wrote for the actress. Whereas for the filmmaker she tweeted, "Appreciation tweet for @anuragkashyap72 who has been a cinematic trailblazer, a teacher and mentor of talent and a man with rare candour and a brave heart ! More power to you Anurag."
