IT dept dismisses "Yeddyurappa diary" as "forgery document"
Bengaluru, Mar 22: The Income Tax Department Saturday dismissed as a "forgery document" and a "set of loose papers", the 'Yeddyurappa diary' about alleged bribe payment to top BJP brass that has created a political furore.
The Congress, citing a media report, had Friday demanded a Lokpal probe into the charge that the state BJP chief had paid Rs 1,800 crore as bribe to the party top brass, which Yeddyurappa had dismissed as "atrocious and malicious."
"Our conclusion after studying it was that it is a forgery document. It is a set of loose papers," principal chief Income Tax Commissioner of Karnataka-Goa Region B R Balakrishnan told reporters.
He said "There was an attempt to just make use of the diary to influence some other investigation, which we have not succumbed to. We have done our job in this case as well."
The documents, which were photocopies, were seized from Karnataka water resources minister D K Shivakumar's residence during a raid carried out by the Income Tax department on August 2, 2017, he said.
The papers were sent to the forensic science laboratory in Hyderabad, which returned it saying that they need the original papers, Balakrishnan added.
He said that whatever came out in the magazine (Caravan) which broke the story was not part of the Income Tax department's seized material.
Balakrishnan stated that in view of various Supreme Court decisions on admissible evidence, "this particular diary has no evidentiary value."
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala had said at a press conference in New Delhi that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should come forward and clarify on the matter.
Yeddyurappa had said that "all issues raised by Congress leaders are irrelevant and false."
"The issue is a closed chapter," he had said, adding that he was consulting legal experts on the issue and thinking about filing a defamation case.
Meanwhile, the state BJP demanded that the Congress leaders apologise after Balakrishnan dubbed the alleged diary as loose sheets of paper and a forgery document.
"Congress leaders who levelled false allegations against BJP and its leaders stand exposed in public.
If Congress leaders have left any sensibility in them and respect for public sentiments, they should immediately apologise," the party said.
Regarding the outcome of raids at a Karnataka minister's residence, (apparently referring to Shivakumar), Balakrishnan, without mentioning his name, said the process to confiscate the Benami property worth Rs 75 crore has been initiated.
"The immediate consequence of a Benami transaction is that you lose the property. Prosecution is a different thing. We will think about that," Balakrishnan added.
Balakrishnan, who called a press conference to give details about the IT department's achievements in the Karnataka-Goa region in the last one year, said the region showed collection of Rs 1.11 lakh crore.
It carried out more than 300 surveys, resulting in detection of undisclosed income of Rs 911 crore, he said.
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TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee moves Calcutta HC over transfer of IAS, IPS officers by Election Commission
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Kolkata (PTI): TMC MP and senior lawyer Kalyan Banerjee on Friday moved the Calcutta High Court questioning the Election Commission's transfer order of several IAS and IPS officers in West Bengal soon after the announcement of assembly polls in the state.
The petitioner named Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar a party respondent in the matter.
Mentioning the matter before a division bench presided by Chief Justice Sujoy Paul, the lawyer prayed for an early hearing of the petition.
The petition, which questions the transfers without consulting the state government before the EC took the decisions, is likely to be heard early next week, a lawyer connected with the matter said.
A large number of senior IAS and IPS officers, including the state's chief secretary, home secretary and director general of police (DGP) were replaced by the Election Commission within hours of announcement of the assembly elections in West Bengal on March 15.
The elections to the 294-member West Bengal assembly will be held in two phases - on April 23 and 29. Votes will be counted on May 4.
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