BJP's biggest donor through electoral bonds made cash transfers to Congress before 2019 LS polls: Report

Megha Engineering subsidiary WUPPTCL paid Rs 10.5 crore at Akbar Road in multiple tranches between August 22, 2016, and November 8, 2017, according to the I-T department's list of evidence.

Megha Engineering, the company that has come under the national spotlight after it was revealed that it was the biggest donor to the BJP in terms of electoral bonds, had also made significant cash transfers to the Congress in 2019, as per a report by News18.

The Income Tax department revealed before the Delhi High Court that documents have shown that the company, along with its subsidiaries, had sent money to "Akbar Road", which is also the location of the Congress headquarters. The publication noted that these purported payments were listed in a 45-page HC judgement on Friday, March 22.

The publication, which claims to have accessed the HC order, quoted from the same: “The search documents recovered from the MEIL Group appear to indicate unaccounted transfers to the political party (Congress) during Assessment Year‘s 2017-18 to 2020-21.”

The order further reveals that a handwritten diary belonging to a certain P V Sunil was seized during the 2019 raids on MEIL and its subsidiary, WUPPTCL. “Statement dated 11.10.2019 of PV Sunil accepting he had paid amounts at 24, Akbar Road,” the court order also revealed, as per the publication.

The MEIL subsidiary WUPPTCL paid Rs 10.5 crore at Akbar Road in multiple tranches between August 22, 2016, and November 8, 2017, according to the I-T department's list of evidence. The department asserts that the funds contributed by MEIL and WUPPTCL are related to the 2019 Lok Sabha and 2018 Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections.

Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL) has emerged as the second-biggest buyer of electoral bonds worth Rs 966 crore, according to data released by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday.

The company made a number of electoral bond purchases close to the date of bagging crucial projects, including the all-weather Zojila tunnel that is being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 4,500 crore in Jammu and Kashmir.

The unlisted firm donated the highest amount of about Rs 585 crore to the BJP, followed by Rs 195 crore to BRS, and Rs 85 crore to the DMK.

It has also donated to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which until recently was in power in Telangana. The BRS, formerly known as Telangana Rashtra Samithi, got Rs 195 crore as donations from the company.

The private firm was founded in 1989 by industrialist Pamireddy Pitchi Reddy as Megha Engineering Enterprises, manufacturing pipes for municipalities.

It changed its name to Megha Engineering and Infrastructure in 2006 and went on to execute big infrastructure projects like dams, natural gas distribution networks, power plants and roads.

The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed Congress party's pleas challenging reassessment proceedings initiated against it by the Income Tax Department.

With PTI inputs