Property tax scam: HC seeks citywide assessment of buildings in Madurai

Time of India

2 days ago

Madurai:
on Tuesday directed the commissioner of Madurai corporation to constitute special teams to verify the correctness of the property tax assessments of all buildings in Madurai city.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
Pursuant to an earlier order, a special investigation team (SIT) headed by deputy inspector general of police, Madurai range, Abhinav Kumar, was formed, and a probe is underway into the property tax scam in Madurai corporation.
On Tuesday, the state submitted that the investigation in the case was accelerated by the SIT. The SIT officials also sought the past 10 years' data from the director of municipal administration about the property tax assessment of buildings within Madurai corporation limits.
The investigation is being conducted from all angles.
A division bench of justice S M Subramaniam and justice G Arul Murugan observed that it was brought to the notice of the court by the petitioner that the undervaluation of buildings for assessing the property tax is also a concern, which should be investigated by the police to initiate appropriate actions for misappropriation of corporation funds.
Hence, the judges directed the corporation commissioner to constitute special teams to verify the correctness of the property tax assessments of all buildings in Madurai city to ensure that correct assessments are made for all properties in accordance with the Act rules.
The court then adjourned the hearing to Wednesday (Aug 20) for the commissioner to file a report regarding the constitution of special teams.
The court passed the order while hearing a public interest litigation filed by T Ravi, AIADMK councillor of ward 83 of Madurai corporation. The petitioner stated that a huge scam in the assessment of property tax in the corporation came to light in 2024. He alleged that several corporation officials, in connivance with the zonal chairpersons, were involved.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
Ravi further alleged that the scam resulted in a loss of more than 200 crore revenue to the corporation.
He stated that police took action only against low-profile people and have not taken action against the real culprits who have political influence. Hence, the petitioner moved court seeking a CBI probe into the scam.
During the earlier hearing, the court observed that a scam of this magnitude had to be investigated by an IPS officer, which should be monitored by higher authorities to ensure there are no lapses and no higher-level people are left out from the ambit of prosecution. All responsible and accountable for causing a huge loss to the corporation should be prosecuted. Hence, the court directed the constitution of an SIT.