Would this happen if amma was alive: P Rama Mohana Rao

CHENNAI: The Income Tax department in Tamil Nadu, which raided the office and home of former chief secretary P Rama Mohana Rao last week, was acting within its rights, according to a top official.

Defending his department’s actions, in the face of claims by the former chief secretary of a "constitutional assault", the official told ET that there were “reasons to suspect” that documents pertaining to the senior bureaucrat’s son Vivek Pappisetty’s income could be present at Rao's house.

The official, employed in the investigation wing of the IT department, rebutted claims of a targeted attack, made by Rao while speaking to journalists at his residence on Tuesday morning.

"Could this have happened had Amma (late chief minister J Jayalalithaa) been alive?" Rao asked the journalists in a rhetoric statement.

Stating that the search of his house, the use of Central Reserve Police Force, and storming into his office at the Secretariat were all signs of a targeted move, Rao said, “My life is in danger,” and displayed documents that he claimed proved that his name was not on the search warrant of the IT Department.

"I may be processing the documents of a case, during which searching another related premises could be important.

In processing Vivek’s [Pappisetty] case, we had reason to suspect that visiting Rao's house was necessary," the I-T official directly involved in the case told ET.

The clause "reason to suspect" is enshrined in the laws authorising IT officers to undertake raids.

The state Income-Tax Department had requested CRPF personnel from its Delhi headquarters on December 5, the day of the death of chief minister J Jayalalithaa.