Anurag Kashyap might go to jail?

Vickey Lalwani, Mumbai Mirror Aug 30, 2013, 12.00AM IST

(Anurag Kashyap More Pics)

It seems there is more trouble in store for 'Bombay Velvet'. First it was the film's budget that shot up by Rs 23 crore, thanks to the sinking INR and now the director has landed in legal tangles with the Service Tax Department. Anurag Kashyap will now have to leave the Sri Lanka shoot and fly down to Mumbai on September 3. With the director away, the shooting schedule, which was supposed to go on till November end, might suffer a setback and the film's budget can further shoot up too.

A team of officials from the Service Tax Department went to Kashyap's Yari Road office on August 26 and carried out a detailed investigation between 2 pm and 10.30 pm.

A source close to the development told TOI, "He is guilty of Service Tax evasion to the tune of Rs 55 lakh. He should have paid this amount last year. Discrepancies have been noted in his private accounts."

Based on the irregularities found, the director was summoned to appear before the Service Tax Commission, which is headed by R Shekhar, on August 27. However, Kashyap sent his representative instead. On August 28 his bank accounts were frozen. According to sources, he has now asked time till September 3.

Deputy Commissioner of Service Tax Department, SameerWankhede, who also visited the office for a brief supervision, said, "Yes, a case has been booked against Anurag. We are carrying out further investigations."

Explaining how a filmmaker can flout Service Tax, the source explained, "There can be many ways he can cheat. For one, he can sell the film to a studio /corporate, charge Service Tax from them, and not pay the same to the government. It is a very serious offence."

A Service Tax official (on request of anonymity) said, "Section 89 of the Finance Act says that if you have not paid your service tax to the tune of Rs 50 lakh for a period of six months, the defaulter can face imprisonment for a period of seven years and it is a nonbailable offence. As of now, we have detected that Anurag has defaulted on over Rs 50 lakh. Probe is on. "