In a move that may have implications for the ongoing Telenor-Unitech case, the Income Tax (IT) Department has taken over the shares of Simpson Wireless, Cestos Wireless and Acrous Wireless.
Unitech obtained its stake in Uninor via these three entities. It had sold 67.25 per cent stake in Unitech Wireless (which had obtained 22 telecom licenses), to Telenor for $1.2 billion. Subsequently, the Rs 10 share was transferred at a premium to Telenor.
Meanwhile, the IT Department has informed the Company Law Board that these companies had outstanding dues of Rs 7.01 billion. The Department has said that the premium on their current stake in Uninor counted as ?capital gains?.
Responding to this, the real estate major has issued a statement saying that its group firms have approached the Commissioner of Income Tax against this order. The companies have argued that the order was based on the ?presumptive gains? on their shareholding in Unitech Wireless. The companies have also said that actual gains on the stake would be accrued only when the stake was sold.
