I-T Department issues notice to Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa’s wife

The Income Tax Department on September 23 issued a notice to Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa's wife, Novel Singhal Lavasa. The notice pertains to her income as independent director of multiple companies.

Sources told CNN-News18 that Lavasa's wife became independent director in companies after the election commissioner took charge as a Secretary of the Government of India.

Lavasa's wife has been issued a notice by the department to explain certain details in her IT Returns (ITR) with regard to holding directorship in about 10 companies, they said.

The officials said after preliminary investigation, the tax department has asked her to provide more documents related to her personal finances.

The department is looking at the ITRs of Novel Singhal Lavasa to ascertain if her income has escaped assessment in the past or something has been concealed from tax authorities, they said.

The probe into alleged tax evasion and holding of directorship in multiple firms against the former banker pertains to a time period between 2015-17, they said.

Lavasa had hit the headlines during the 2019 Lok Sabha election when reports suggested that he had dissented in about 11 decisions of the Election Commission (EC).

These were involving complaints against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah for alleged violations of the Model Code of Conduct.