Wipro says it’s won interim relief in property tax row

BAMGALORE: Wipro said it has won an interim order from Karnataka High Court restraining the Bangalore civic body from forcing India’s second largest software exporter to pay a disputed property tax claim until further notice. The court order comes four days after officials from Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike ( BBMP) visited Wipro campus in Sarjapur seeking Rs 16.47 crore in property taxes, which the company has refused to pay. “Against the backdrop of the developments on November 27, Wipro approached the Honorable Karnataka High Court seeking its intervention to restrain Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) from resorting to coercive tactics.

The high court has since passed an interim order directing BBMP to desist from any coercive action,” a Wipro spokesman said in an emailed response. Wipro has refused to pay the tax as it believes the city officials’ tax claims are unjustified. BBMP said it will fight the case until it wins.

“This is just an interim stay order. We will employ a lawyer and fight it,” said MS Shivaprasad, chairman of civic body’s standing committee on finance and taxation. According to city officials, Wipro has refused to pay property tax since 2008 despite repeated notices from civic authorities. Last week, the municipal body said it could confiscate immovable property from Wipro’s office. Wipro called BBMP’s action an “illegal attempt to collect money”.

In February, in a similar dispute Wipro had won another stay order against BBMP after the municipal body claimed Wipro owed property tax worth Rs 19 crore.