Karnataka Housing Minister and Ballari District In-charge Minister B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan has got into a legal soup after a complaint to the Income Tax (IT) Department against him was filed. The controversy stems from a ₹25 lakh cash compensation he personally handed over to the family of a deceased Congress worker in Ballari. The complaint has been filed by Hindu organization leader Tejas Gowda, who alleges a blatant violation of the Income Tax Act’s rules on high-value cash transactions.
The Ballari Incident: A Touch of Heart turned Legal Pain
The incident is rooted in January 1, 2026, when Rajashekar Reddy, a Congress activist, was shot and killed in a shooting during a political confrontation in Ballari. After the disaster, Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan came to visit the distraught family at their home in Hussain Nagar on Saturday, January 3. The Minister was caught handing a cloth bag containing ₹25 lakh in cash over to Rajashekar’s mother in a video that quickly went viral on television news channels and social media. Although meant to get money right off the back of the breadwinner's family, the gesture has now attracted attention from tax authorities.
Visited and gave condolences to the family members of Late Smt.Rajashekhar(who passed away in a incident) at his residence in Bellary City and personally provide financial assistance for their livelihood pic.twitter.com/h5XfuA2opf
— B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan (@BZZameerAhmedK) January 3, 2026
The ₹25 Lakh cash payment is under investigation
The complaint put forward by Tejas Gowda asserts that as a public servant, the Cabinet Minister and Zameer Ahmed Khan, the concerned person, ought to understand the laws of India against paying cash transactions. The first legal arguments brought in the complaint are:
- Section 269ST of Income Tax Act: In this section anyone on the other hand is not allowed to get ₹2 lakh or more from a person every day/one transaction/event.
- Penalty: Pursuant to Section 271DA, the receiver of such cash may be fined an amount equal to the cash received. The deceased family would face a stiff price for taking the cash in this instance, technically, ₹25 lakh.
- Source of Funds – the IT Department, the complaint also asks to trace the origins of the ₹25 lakh cash, questioning if it was personal, party, or government money and why it was not received through a safe banking outlet such as Cheque or Demand Draft (DD) channel.
The Complainant's Stand
Tejas Gowda has lodged his written complaint under the auspices of Directors General of Income Tax: Bengaluru and Goa. He told us: "A Minister with a constitutional post in government has openly violated the rules defined hereby -by the RBI and IT Department himself. He has paid down ₹25 lakh in a cloth bag that has bypassed banking process, and also have placed the poor recipient family at significant risk of severe penalties. This requires an investigation to establish where the liquid cash originated from.”
What Happens Next?
The TV and news photos turned over to the Income Tax Department will be examined by them for evidence. Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan may then be served a notice, which seeks explanation for the way in which it received funds from its source or what it was used for. Although the Minister’s supporters point out that the cash was given as an emergency “relief,” tax experts say that even in humanitarian situations, the law calls for transactions over ₹2 lakh to be processed through banking channels in order to keep money from flowing.
