11th March 2003

When idlebrain.com met Teja when he is about to leave to Dubai for the audio release function of Nijam, we asked him about the entire story of the IT (Income Tax) rides on him and RP Patnaik and how much was recovered from them. Lets listen in Teja's words itself ….

"I think IT has raided the wrong people at the wrong time"

Why wrong people?
As a producer I made only one film - Jayam, which has become a blockbuster. I made lots of money through it. But at the same time, I have invested that money into two of the under-production films - Nijam (Mahesh Babu - Teja) and Sambaram (Nitin - Dasarath). I was penniless hence I borrowed 4 more crores from financiers to fund these films. I also have two projects in pipeline. I paid an advance tax of 15 lakhs to IT department long back. They could have raided the people who delivered 3-4 blockbusters as producers. But instead the IT people have chosen me to close on!

Why wrong time?
I am supposed to file the returns of my earnings by 31st of March 2003. They should have waited till then. Without even giving me a chance to file my IT returns, they chose to raid me on the 21st of February. By mistake, they presumed that I produced 'Jayam' for the last financial year. But I produced 'Jayam' for the current financial year for which I have time till 31st of March to file returns.

Teja is not a tax evader!
If a part of my earning goes into the national exchequer, I would be the happiest person to contribute with all my will and might. I will never evade tax as I feel filing tax returns is something I am really proud of.

How much did IT people find in Teja's house?
They found a cash of Rs. 6,500/- (six thousand and five hundred only). And they got hold of my wife's bank locker keys and there they found a necklace worth Rs 7,000/-. They got hold of my computer, which I stopped operating for months. They asked me for the password which I had forgotten. They sealed the computer and took it with them. I co-operated with them by showing them places where there are possibilities of hiding money and they checked each and every nook. Finally they could not find anything.

I had a tight sleep while IT raid was going on
I have the habit of sleeping early in night. By 11 pm I could not control myself. I told them to search as per their wish and I dozed off for an hour. Later on IT men told that for the first time, they have seen a guy who slept peacefully during the IT raid.

They could not answer my kid's innocent question
My 7-year-old son Amithov asked her mother why IT people have come to our house. She said they came from government to search for money. Then Amitov saw the gunman and asked why police had come. Then she replied if they found money in our house, they would take away that money. This police will guard that money so that nobody can steal it. Then the kid again asked why should we pay money to the government? Then mother asked the kid to pose that question to IT man. The kid went to IT man and asked the same question. Then IT man replied that Government would take care of citizens of India with that money. Then that kid asked that a dog died 3 days back and nobody from government came forward to clean the corpse and take it away. And IT man did not have any answer for that.

What about RP?
IT men unearthed Rs 3000/- (Three thousand only) from the house of RP Patnaik. Though terrified in the beginning, RP took around 5 minutes to cool down. As the IT people started searching the house, RP sat there by singing songs from his films. IT people too joined in by lending chorus to RP's folk tunes. However, the IT men gave a compliment to RP while leaving that the folk song 'Rathaalu' from his forth coming movie 'Nijam' is very good!

Tell us how you liked this article