Hyderabad: Biryani restaurants under investigation for financial irregularities

Income Tax officials raided Hyderabad’s popular biryani chains—Pista House, Shah Ghouse, and Mehfil—over alleged tax evasion and financial irregularities. More than 30 teams inspected outlets, offices, and residences while seizing documents, digital data, and property records for further investigation

Hyderabad: The Income Tax department officials on Tuesday conducted extensive raids on three of city’s iconic biryani restaurant chains – Pista House, Shah Ghouse, and Mehfil, over allegations of large-scale tax evasion and financial irregularities.

More than 30 I-T teams, led by the Investigation Wing, launched coordinated searches early in the morning at around 20 locations, including major outlets, corporate offices, and the residences of owners and key executives.

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According to sources, officials suspect significant discrepancies between the income declared by these chains and their actual business turnover, which runs into several hundreds of crores annually. Investigators have also examined branch-wise sales records, digital accounts, franchise revenues and international transactions of the restaurant.

At Pista House, which has grown into a global brand with 44 outlets across India, the Middle East and the US, it is learnt that the I-T teams scrutinised online order volumes and seasonal ‘Haleem’ sales that reportedly surge to several crores. Raids were carried out at the homes of its owners, Mohammed Majeed and Mohammed Mustan, in Rajendranagar.

On the other hand, searches at the Mehfil Group allegedly indicated the use of employees as ‘benamis’, with properties allegedly registered in their names. Officials are also probing possible fake billing and undisclosed fund transfers.

Meanwhile, Shah Ghouse, which operates multiple high-volume branches in Gachibowli and the Old City and is heavily active on food-delivery platforms, also came under scrutiny for alleged suppression of sales.

It is learnt that large volumes of financial documents, digital data and property records were seized by the officials during the inspections. The raids are likely to continue as teams need to verify the seized material and assess the extent of alleged tax evasion.