The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed an FIR against Cadbury India Ltd for alleged irregularities and corruption in obtaining licenses for its factory in Himachal Pradesh in 2009-10, officials said.
The officials of the federal probe agency also conducted searches at residential and officials premises linked to the accused in Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.
Cadbury allegedly misrepresented facts to avail area-based tax exemption benefits worth around ₹241 crore, according to the CBI First Information Report. Rather than expanding production by creating a unit, Cadbury decided to increase production capacity in its existing unit and avail tax exemption from May 2005, CBI said.
The CBI has named Nirmal Singh, Superintendent and Jaspreet Kaur, Inspector, of Central Excise Department as accused in the case along with 10 others including Cadbury India Limited.
The enquiry revealed that a plant was proposed by Cadbury India in Baddi in 2007 to manufacture its popular chocolates, 5 Star and Gems, so that it could avail area-based excise and tax exemption. To avail the same, some members of the executive board of the company along with the key managers, collectively decided to manipulate records, engage intermediaries to route bribes to the government officials, and cover up evidence, according to the CBI FIR. No new plant was constructed.
Cadbury officials, CBI added, “paid bribes, misrepresented facts and manipulated records to fraudulently avail area-based exemption benefits (Central Excise and Income Tax) in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, knowing fully well that they were not entitled to avail area-based tax exemption benefits”.
People familiar with the development said that the CBI teams carried out searches at five places in Himachal Pradesh and Haryana on Wednesday.
A Mondelez India spokesperson said in a statement, “In 2019, the company settled a potentially protracted litigation through the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019 – an amnesty scheme introduced by the Indian government to settle tax litigation. This decision was made in the interest of putting an end to protracted litigation to enable us to focus on what we do best, growing our business in India. We are yet to receive any formal communication in the matter from the authorities”.
