Days after the the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) published a list of the most wanted income tax defaulters in India, it has revealed that most of them were operating from chawls of Mumbai. Chawls are buiuldings which offer affordable housing, and rooms in them are rarely rented out as commercial spaces. Some of the tax evaders on SEBI's list have been untraceable since 2014, and their names were made public when it failed to serve notices to them.
For instance one Prakash Gaurishankar Joshi on the list was working from Dilkhush Chawl No. 3 in Borivali east, and Ashok Bhagat's last address was H-19 Ramji Gupta Chawl in the Santacruz locality of Mumbai.
Mahesh Mistry of Manraj Driver Chawl in Andheri east was also on the list, alongside people from chawls in Marine Lines, Fort, Vile Parle and in Thane.
Some defaulters are missing since eight months and some for as long as eight years. SEBI's Recovery Officer Suchismita Sahoo has asked untraceable defaulters to come forward and also members of the public to share information about them, via letters or emails by January 14, 2023.
