Mumbai/New Delhi: Actor Sonu Sood has denied that he has any political aspirations. The actor is currently facing heat from the Income Tax department due to alleged tax evasion and illegal funding. Many feel that since Sonu Sood has decided to become the face of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for a particular programme, he is being hounded by the Income Tax department. Sonu has also revealed that he had received offers of a Rajya Sabha seat from two parties. However, he turned both down as he was ‘not mentally ready’ to join politics.
“Whatever documents, details they asked for, we gave. Whatever questions they asked, I answered. I did my part, they did theirs. Whatever questions they raised, we answered each and every one of them with documents. That’s my duty. We are still providing documents…it is part of the process,” the actor was quoted as saying by NDTV. Incidentally this is the first time that Sonu has opened his mouth since the raids began at multiple locations belonging to the actor across India. “I make sure every single penny donated by anyone in this universe is accounted for,” Sonu added.
The actor has also denied allegations that he violated the law and evaded tax. “Of course not,” he asserted.
Also read: Income Tax Dept accuses Sonu Sood of Rs 20cr financial irregularities
Earlier in the day, Sonu also came out with a statement over the raids conducted on his properties in Mumbai. He has been accused of evading taxes worth over Rs 20 crore. Income Tax officials have also said that his charity formed in July last year has only spent Rs 1.9 crore for relief work out of the Rs 18 crore donations it has earned.
“It is very surprising. Whatever we collect is not just money donated by citizens. A chunk of that is also my remuneration from brand endorsements. I ask them to donate to charity which can save lives,” Sonu said in the statement.
“I have 54,000 unread mails, thousands of messages on WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter. It will not even take 18 hours to finish Rs 18 crore. But I have to make sure every single penny is used in a proper way, for a genuine and needy person,” the actor added.
The actor has said that the taxmen have ‘praised’ him for proper documentation of transactions and that he had done ‘good work’.
“I asked them – have you ever seen this kind of documentation, details, paperwork? They said no…they were also happy with whatever they were seeing. They said it was the smoothest four days of raids for them,” Sonu said.
Some parties have linked the raids to his recent collaboration with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for a school education mentorship. “I am not allying with AAP. You call me into any state – Karnataka, Gujarat, I will go immediately, like magic. I have worked in all states – those ruled by the BJP, Congress,” Sonu said.
He also asserted that he would continue with his charity, no matter what. “I didn’t start to stop. It’s just the beginning,” the actor stated.