THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The income tax department said that the firm of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter T Veena has paid IGST. The Commissioner of GST has submitted a report stating that Veena's firm Exalogic Solutions has paid IGST on Rs 1.72 crore for services rendered to CMRL.

It is reported that the report has been handed over to Finance Minister KN Balagopal by the Secretary of Taxes and it will be forwarded to the Chief Minister. Since Exalogic is registered in Bengaluru, the tax officials conducted inspections in Karnataka and Kerala. The report to the Minister states that there are records of payment of IGST by Veena.

At the same time, the GST department had shied away from a question under the RTI Act on whether Exalogic had paid IGST on the amount received for services rendered to CMRL. The GST department replied to the question that it is not possible to answer out of respect for the privacy of individuals. According to Section 8(1) (e) of the RTI Act, the GST department cannot transfer information that respects the privacy of individuals. The reply stated that the information provided by the taxpayer to the department is private and does not fall within the scope of majority interest.

It was found that Veena received Rs 1.72 crore from CMRL in the last three years. Veena and Exalogic had signed an agreement with CMRL to provide IT, marketing consultancy and software services. CMRL Managing Director SN Sasidharan Kartha testified to the Income Tax Department that as per the contract, monthly payments were made but Veena's company did not provide any services.