Dealer pays tax for ex-deputy mayor's car

VADODARA: The row sparked after former deputy mayor Shailesh Mehta was declared a tax defaulter by Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) seems to have settled for now. The dealer, who sold Mehta the high-end car, admitted in a missive to VMC that the amount was not deposited due to an error on his part.
Mehta had sparked a row after his name was made public as a part of a list of owners of swanky car owners worth Rs 25 lakh or more, who had failed to pay vehicle tax to VMC. He served a legal notice to the civic body and furnished a letter by the car dealer stating that he had been charged the tax, but it had not been deposited to VMC as the dealer was told to do so when it was asked for the tax.
But the civic body did not buy the argument by the dealer and argued that there was not reason to send back a person, who had come to pay the tax. "The dealer has now got back to us stating that it had not deposited the tax due to an error. The amount was deposited to us on Monday and the matter is settled," said senior official. The dealer had deposited the taxes of seven other buyers, but did not do so in Mehta nee Sotta's case.
Sources, however, said the civic body was still on a sticky wicket as it had not issued a bill to Mehta and went public with information stating that the car would be seized. The error is believed to have taken place at the ward level.