The Caravan has accessed documents which reveal that the Income Tax Department is in possession of copies of diary entries in the handwriting of prominent BJP leader and the former Chief Minister of Karnataka, BS Yeddyurappa.
What has come to be known as the Yeddyurappa Diaries allegedly note payoffs amounting to over Rs 1,800 crore to the BJP’s national leaders, its central committee, as well as judges and advocates.
The implications of this revelation might be fully known in the days to come. However, what would be the legal implications of these documents? Can the same be used against Yeddyurappa and other political bigwigs? The matter is not without a precedent and might very well weigh in favour of Yeddyurappa, especially if a petition in the nature of public interest litigation is filed in any High Court or the Supreme Court. (yeddyurappa bjp )
This is because of a very similar precedent which was decided by the Supreme Court more than two years ago – the Sahara Birla payoffs.
In 2016, a plea by NGO Common Cause came up for hearing before the Supreme Court. The plea sought a SIT probe into the evidence gathered against the Sahara Group and the Aditya Birla Group regarding bribing of politicians. The applicant had alleged that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had conducted raids on the premises of Aditya Birla group industries in four cities on October 15, 2013 followed by another raid by the Income Tax Department on the very next day. It was submitted that the CBI transferred the incriminating documents to the Income Tax Department. The laptop of Mr. Shubhendu Amitabh, Group Executive President, was seized during the raid. An e-mail containing a cryptic entry referring to political functionaries was also recovered from the laptop. (yeddyurappa bjp)
Courtesy/By: Sakshi Shukla
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24 Mar 2019
