August 7: The controversy over the visit of filmstar Karisma Kapoor to the house of a top IT official investigating her alleged tax evasion (Express Newsline July 25) is hotting up.

Even as a member of the Central Board of Direct Taxes arrived in the city to enquire into the case, Director General (Investigation) R K Pathania has admitted to a newspaper that Karisma did visit his house but insisted that there was nothing unusual about that.

Not to be left out of things, the Mumbai unit of the Indian Revenue Service Association (IRSA) passed a resolution `condemning the vilification campaign by a certain section of the press' against top officials and echoed Pathania saying there was ``nothing abnormal, much less, alarming about the senior-most officers of the department allowing an audience to a member of the public at their residence, if the occasion demands, to avoid crowds, particularly in the cases of popular public figures.''

The resolution by the executive committee of IRSA came a full eight days after the Newsline story on Karisma and a few days after a city daily quoted Pathania as saying that service rules permitted officials to meet those under investigation at home.

Expressing its ``resentment'' against the news items, the IRSA noted that the ``vilification campaign'' was ``at the instance of some vested interests aimed at tarnishing the image of officers and the department as a whole''.``Senior public servants are always expected to be accessible to the general public for redressal of grievances. No sinister meanings can be read into such appointments unless some vested interest is intent on painting a different picture...The present campaign, therefore, deserves to be discontinued,'' the IRSA has advised.

But when Newsline contacted Rajeev K Agrawal, deputy commissioner (range II), who signed the statement in his capacity as secretary of IRSA for some clarifications, he was extremely reticent. He reluctantly disclosed that the committee consisted of eight members but could not remember how long the meeting discussed the issue.

Asked if the executive had sought any answers from Pathania on why Karisma went to the latter's house without her Chartered Accountant on July 25, Agrawal said, ``We are not an inquiry committee. We have, of course, spoken to Mr Pathania.''

Asked what were the relevant rules that permitted an officer to meet assessees even at home, Agrawal deflected the question to IRSA chairman S K Sharma, who could not be contacted despite repeated phone calls.

Vice Chairman Santosh Datta, however, said officers of or equivalent to the rank of additional secretary and above were supposed to be on duty for 24 hours, so it was not wrong if the DG had ``given an audience to the actress at his residence'' which still does not answer the question why Karisma went there without her chartered accountant.

Asked if the committee knew that Karisma had not sought the meeting, Datta said they did not discuss the facts of the case. ``In any case, the DG is not directly assessing her case.

He is the superior authority who oversees the work of subordinate officers,'' he said. Which begs the question: Why should Karisma have ``an official meeting'' with the DG then?

Yet, at 8.10 pm on July 25, the day Karisma went to Hyderabad Estate, Newsline telephoned Pathania's house. When asked if Karisma had visited there, the male voice at the other end demanded: ``Who's telling you all this?'' The person who refused to identify himself then banged the phone which was wholly unnecessary if the visit was as innocuous as it is now being made out to be. When Express Newsline contacted Pathania today with some questions he said he could not ``answer any questions now''.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.