NEW DELHI, May 7: Skipper Saurav Ganguly is among 33 Indian cricketers under a cloud for defaulting on tax payments, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha told parliament Tuesday.

The players, which include former captains Mohammad Azharuddin, Kapil Dev and Ajay Jadeja, owe the government tax dues of Rs 38 million (US$800,000), Sinha told the upper house of parliament.

There were, however, no dues against current superstar Sachin Tendulkar and former captains Sunil Gavaskar and Srinivas Venkataraghavan, the finance ministry clarified.

Sinha scoffed at speculation the government was not “pro-active” in realising the dues from the players.

“The impression that we are not pro-active is wrong,” he said. “We are pro-active. But, we have to be pro-active as per the law of the land.”

Sinha said the Income Tax department was pursuing all cases against the cricketers and had fixed strict norms for their quick disposal.

Assuring the house that there was no laxity on the part of the tax officers, Sinha said the premises of several players and their relatives had been searched and documents seized were under examination.

He said the duty of the income tax department was to “collect tax and not to defame people.”

The vast earnings of cricketers came into sharp focus two years ago when the federal Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probed the match-fixing and betting scandal.

Income Tax officials raided the homes and offices of several players like Azharuddin, Jadeja and Kapil Dev following the investigation.

Both Azharuddin and Jadeja were banned from the game for match-fixing but Kapil, one of the game’s legendary all-rounders, was absolved of any wrong-doing by the CBI.—AFP