Arrested along with an associate in bribery case
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has seized around Rs 1 crore in cash and 3.5 kg of gold during searches at the premises of senior IRS officer Amit Kumar Singal, who has been arrested along with one of his associates in connection with a bribery case involving an amount of Rs 25 lakh, officials said on Monday.
The CBI conducted searches at the premises of Singal, a 2007-batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, who was posted as the additional director general at the Directorate of Taxpayer Services here, and his associate Harsh Kotak, following a trap operation.
During the searches at Singal’s premises in Delhi and Punjab, the CBI seized Rs 1 crore in cash, along with 3.5 kg of gold and 2 kg of silver, the officials said. Singal was arrested for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 25 lakh from a pizza-chain owner, they said. He had allegedly demanded a total bribe amount of Rs 45 lakh to settle an income-tax notice issued to Sanam Kapoor, owner of La Pino’z Pizza, according to the CBI First Information Report.
The first instalment of Rs 25 lakh was delivered to his residence in Punjab’s Mohali on Saturday, where Kotak allegedly received the money on the officer’s behalf.
Acting on Kapoor’s complaint, a CBI team raided the premises and arrested Kotak. Another team of the federal agency arrested Singal from his Delhi residence on the same day.
The two were produced before a special magistrate in Chandigarh, who remanded them in judicial custody till June 13, according to Kapoor’s lawyer, Gagandeep Jammu.
According to the FIR, Singal, then posted as the joint commissioner, Customs Department, Mumbai, approached Kapoor and after a few meetings, entered into a master franchise contract with La Pinoz Pizza through Parker Impex, a partnership firm in the name of his mother, Ranjna, and Amit Rattan.
It was allegedly followed by other agreements regarding a franchise deal for two outlets and a store with Flevaco (a partnership firm of Harsh Kotak and his mother, Godavariben Amulakhbhai Kotak) and an agreement for an outlet with Mohini Hospitality, in which Kotak’s wife, Kiran, was the proprietor. Later, Kotak replaced Rattan in Parker Impex, the FIR has alleged.
Following a business fallout due to “unprofessional conduct and material violations”, Kapoor was allegedly coerced to buy back three outlets at six times their value, Jammu said.
“After termination of master franchise contracts with Parker Impex and its associate firms in the month of December 2024, Singal, using his influence, got income tax notice … Issued to me by Income Tax department on February 18, 2025,” Kapoor has alleged in the complaint to the CBI that is now part of the FIR.
Kapoor’s chartered accountant had visited the income-tax office at Chandigarh along with books of accounts, as directed in the notice. On his return, the CA informed Kapoor that he might have to face a hefty penalty and the notice has been issued due to the influence exhorted by Singal, the complaint has alleged.
Kapoor met Singal at his Delhi office in April, where the officer allegedly demanded Rs 45 lakh as bribe to settle the notice and threatened that heavy penalty may be slapped on him in case he does not pay, the FIR has alleged.
“The demand for the bribe was accompanied by threats of legal action, imposition of heavy penalties and harassment in case of non-compliance,” a CBI spokesperson said in a statement.
Acting on the complaint, the CBI did a verification exercise during which an around-four-hour-long conversation between Kapoor, Kotak, Singal and a lawyer was covertly recorded on May 30. The conversation allegedly hinted at the demand for the bribe, according to the agency’s verification report.
The CBI laid a trap the very next day and arrested Kotak while he was allegedly accepting the bribe on Singal’s behalf at the officer’s Mohali residence, the officials said.
Singal was arrested from his residence in Delhi’s Vasant Kunj on Saturday.
