CBDT Claims to Refute ‘Yeddy Diaries Exposé,’ But Doesn’t Really

CBDT said the diary entries “appear to be of doubtful nature” because it couldn’t procure the original entries.

BS Yeddyurappa

(Photo: Erum Gour/The Quint)

After a report, titled The Yeddy Diaries, by The Caravan on Friday, 22 March, alleged that senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa paid Rs 1,500 crore to top party leaders, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) issued a press release saying “CBDT refutes media reports”.

However, when one reads the release, it becomes clear that CBDT doesn’t just confirm the media reports, it also gives an update on its probe on the recovered diary pages.

The release says the loose sheets of the diary “appear to be of doubtful nature” because the CBDT couldn’t lay their hands on the original entries.

According to the media report, the diary entries were made by Yeddyurappa himself.

The CBDT also said, “all efforts have been made by the Income Tax Office concerned to procure the original of the disputed writings. However, the details about the place and custody of the original writings and, if the original writings exist, are not available.”

Based on The Caravan’s report, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala addressed a press conference, on Friday, accusing Yeddyurappa of paying over Rs 1,800 crore to the party’s national leaders and some advocates and judges during his tenure as the Karnataka

The report stated that Yeddyurappa recorded these alleged payouts in a Karnataka Assembly legislator’s 2009 diary, in Kannada. It adds that some loose papers of a diary, with Yeddyurappa’s signature on it, were recovered by the Income Tax department during the searches at Congress leader DK Shivakumar’s premises on 2 August 2017.

Based on the recovery of diary pages, the CBDT claims it questioned Shivakumar and Yeddyurappa.

What Shivakumar Told CBDT

Shivakumar was questioned by the CBDT on 19 October 2017. Stating what Shivakumar told them, the CBDT’s press release says the agency was informed that,

“(Loose papers) was a copy of diary, written by Mr. BS Yeddyurappa, and the payments paid on behalf of Mr. BS Yeddyurappa to legislators, and received from various leaders, MLAs, Ministers when they were in power.”  

The release further reveals what Shivakumar told a CBDT officer when asked about how he got hold of the papers. It reads:

“Being a politician, he (Shivakumar) procures information about other parties, leaders and members and as the said loose sheets contain political information, he cannot disclose the sources information. He said that he keeps getting such information from the general public.”  

Stating how Shivakumar told the officer he doesn’t have the original pages of the diary, the CBDT release says,

“(Shivakumar) he did not know the time period in which the said transactions have taken place and that he did not have the originals of the said loose sheets. He also stated that the handwriting in the loose sheets could be of Mr. BS Yeddyurappa on the basis of comparison between various documents written by him.”   

The release added that when asked why he didn’t bring the said documents to the notice of the Lokayukta of Karnataka, Shivakumar said he was unsure of their genuineness. The press release reads,

“(Shivakumar) he did not know about the genuineness of the said loose sheets.”  

What Yeddyurappa Told CBDT

On 25 November 2017, the CBDT recorded Yeddyurappa’s statement after confronting him with Shivakumar’s statement and the loose diary pages. The press release issued on Friday states,

“Yeddyurappa stated that he was not in the habit of writing a dairy and that the loose sheets in question were not in his handwriting. He also stated that the contents of the loose sheets were false and fabricated and his name has been used to malign his political career.”   

The CBDT claims that Yeddyurappa provided a sample of his handwriting to the agency in order to discredit the said loose sheets.

On 24 April 2018, the ‘loose sheets’ were sent to CFSL Hyderabad by CBDT for further examination of handwriting. But CFSL asked for the originals of the same for forensic analysis.

While the CBDT release mentions the action taken on finding the alleged diary entries, it doesn’t say anything about an alleged note that was, according to The Caravan’s report, written by an I-T official to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

The Caravan’s report reads, “The senior official wrote (to Jaitley) that the IT department “protected the interests of the BJP leaders. Since this matter is connected to the BJP leaders of Karnataka and also in Delhi, no further investigation has been done till date.””

Now, the questions to be asked are – why didn’t the CBDT question the BJP leaders, judges and advocates who were mentioned in the alleged diary entries, and what efforts were made by the CBDT to procure the originals?