Court again says no to Burman's Hong Kong trip

New Delhi, Jan 22 (IANS) A court here Thursday dismissed an application seeking permission to travel to Hong Kong by Dabur India promoter Pradip Burman, who figures in the list given by the government to the Supreme Court in the black money issue.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Devendra Kumar Sharma dismissed the plea, observing that there was apprehension on behalf of the complainant (income tax department) that the accused (Burman) may flee from the jurisdiction of the court to such a jurisdiction from where he cannot be brought back.

"This apprehension of the complainant finds force as there is no treaty between India and the Hong kong for the purpose of taxation," the court said.

The court had Tuesday dismissed Burman's application seeking permission to visit Hong Kong for attending his elder brother's death anniversary.

Burman, in his fresh application moved Wednesday, pleaded that he wanted to attend the 70th birthday of his brother's wife.

In his plea, in one place he sought permission to go abroad for three days Jan 23-26, while on another page, he said he wanted to go abroad for five days starting Jan 22.

The court said there was no fresh ground in the new application and it was without merit.

The court, however, said that if the accused was ready to conclude the trial within one month, he may file his affidavit to the effect on the next date of hearing and so that he may not face in future any difficulty to obtain necessary permission on time.

The court had earlier twice allowed Burman to go abroad, including a trip to London to meet his ailing brother.

A case was registered against Burman under the Income Tax Act for offences relating to concealment of income and tax evasion.

According to the income tax department's complaint, Burman held foreign bank accounts but did not disclose them in his income tax returns, and there were undisclosed deposits in the accounts.