Taxmen cannot snoop on anyone on a whim: court

NEW DELHI: The tax authorities have been rapped by the Delhi High Court for attempting to snoop on some companies, including Maytas, although they were not the suspected evaders.

Terming a search and seizure operation conducted by the Income Tax department as a "serious invasion of the privacy and freedom of the citizen," the Delhi High Court has said that such exercises cannot be a "roving or fishing exercise" by the department.

The case pertains to a search and seizure operation conducted by the department on the EMMAR MGF group in September 2007, when I-T officials seized two laptops of the auditing and accounting firm of the company.

But it so happened that the laptops of the accounting firms also had information pertaining to other clients, including Maytas promoted by the kin of Satyam Computer founder Ramalinga Raju.

The tax department insisted that accounting firm S R Batliboi and Company should give it "total and unrestricted access to the laptops" so that it can peruse the information.

>S R Batliboi and Company, however, refused the same. The Court also said that since by the exercise of the power "a serious invasion" is made upon the rights, privacy and freedom of the tax-payer, the power must be exercised "strictly in accordance with the law" and only for the purposes for which the law authorises it to be exercised.