'Notice was served before Bachchan was hospitalised'
There is a perception that the Income Tax department is hounding Amitabh Bachchan. Could you put the issue of Mr Bachchan's tax matters in perspective?
The public impression being created is not based on correct information. You may remember that the campaign against the department started when Bachchan was admitted to (Mumbai's Lilavati) hospital. There were media reports that Bachchan was served notice when he was in hospital.
You know very well that the department has records and on the basis of that it serves notices. In his case, notice was served before he was admitted to hospital. The department did not know he would be hospitalised.
We did not react to media reports because the department does not discuss individual cases. Then the (finance) ministry clarified that no notices have been served on him when he was in hospital. Despite that people are alleging that the department has targeted him. I don't know to what extent we should go to educate the media and other critics that were have not done it.
I have read an interview in which Amitabh Bachchan said he signed a cheque from his hospital bed. The media should distinguish the two matters. Signing a cheque is not same as sending a notice when he was in hospital.
After that, the media started reporting that the department has started an inquiry into sunglasses which he purchased in the United States for a film and after the shooting he handed over the glasses to the director or producer of the film.
The department denied it. We issued a press release that no such notice has been issued to him. Then the media started showing a letter written by Amitabh Bachchan where he expressed his views.
If you have a discerning eye you will find that this letter was written on Saturday. On Saturday and Sundays we are closed. Through the weekend, the media was highlighting this letter. If you carefully read his letter it says the department made some inquiries on the basis of a media report about some property.
So before the department could react, Amitabh writes that, 'before any inquiry about my buttons or the threads used is issued I would like to clarify this...'
The media went to town saying the department has issued notice inquiring into the purchase of sunglasses from a person who is one of the highest taxpayers in the film industry.
I have no complaint against the media whose reliability and credibility is low. But I want to know why nobody from the media asked him if he has received a notice from us. Please show us the notice. Please read his letter carefully and find out if it is in response to a notice served by the department.
Then some reporters kept saying it was a telephonic notice. Have you ever heard anybody being issued a telephonic notice? This story is going on and on even now.
Image: Amitabh Bachchan with his son Abhishek after he was discharged from Lilavati Hospital.
Photograph: Rediff Archives
Tell us: Is Amitabh Bachchan being harassed?