Income-Tax authorities on Thursday conducted "survey" at the premises of Escorts Group of Hospitals, in the national capital region and Chandigarh, for alleged illegal appropriation of assets to the tune of crores of rupees.

The "survey", which was expected to be completed by early Friday, was being carried out at the Escorts Hospital in South Delhi and the company's headquarters at Faridabad in Haryana, informed sources said.

The sources said the main allegation against the company was "illegal" transfer of the charitable property of the hospitals to personal names, thus cheating the government of crores of rupees.

The hospitals were constructed 18 years back after being registered as charitable institutions. During these years, the hospital authorities had been claiming income tax exemptions as a charitable institute, besides other benefits.

However, three years back, the property acquired by the charitable institute was transferred to some individuals as one of the owners of the company acquired 80 per cent of shares of these hospitals, 10 per cent went to a leading doctor and another 10 per cent to some other individuals.

The sources said the survey was conducted under section 131 of the Income-Tax Act and all the hospital's records had been seized.