जस्टिस शाह ने कहा है कि जो दस्तावेज मौजूद हैं उनसे देश के कुछ राज्यों के मुख्यमंत्रियों समेत राजनेताओं और नौकरशाहों को कारोबारी घरानों ( सहारा, बिड़ला) की ओर से व्यवस्थित तरीके से रिश्वत दिए जाने के सबूत मिले हैं। सीडब्ल्यूएफ की ओर से लिखी चिट्ठी में दावा किया  गया है उसके पास वह अप्रैजल रिपोर्ट हैं, जिसमें रिश्वत देने के दस्तावेजी सबूत हैं।
 
जस्टिस शाह की इस चिट्ठी को यहां पढ़ा जा सकता है may be read here.
 
पत्र में कहा गया है- सीडब्ल्यूएफ को पता चला है कि सीबीआई (बिड़ला के मामले में) और आयकर विभाग (सहारा के मामले में) को जांच के दौरान दस्तावेज, नोट्स, लैपटॉप और बड़ी तादाद में नकदी मिली है।

पांच जनवरी को सबरंग इंडिया ने (Sabrangindia had reported ) ने यह रिपोर्ट छापी थी कि राजनेताओं को जिस तरह से व्यवस्थित तरीके से घूस दी गई उस मामले में आयकर विभाग की आकलन रिपोर्ट को किस कदर पूरी तरह नजरअंदाज कर दिया  गया। उसी दिन सुप्रीम कोर्ट की सुनवाई के बाद अखबारों ने खबर छापी थी कि किस कदर इनकम टैक्स सेटलमेंट कमीशन ने तुरत-फुरत  (आईटीएससी) सहारा को टैक्स विवाद में माफी दे दी थी। जबकि इससे पहले इसी टैक्स सेटलमेंट कमशन ने माफी के लिए सहारा के आवेदन को खारिज कर दिया था। 5 सितंबर, 2016 को अचानक कंपनियों की उस दलील को मान लिया गया कि इनकम टैक्स डिपार्टमेंट की ओर से जब्त कागजी सबूत असली दस्तावेज नहीं हैं।
 
आईटीएससी का आदेश और इस तरह की घूसखोरी के सबूत दिखाने वाले दस्तावेज सुप्रीम कोर्ट में इस मामले को ( सहारा और बिड़ला के खिलाफ रिश्वत देने का कोई मामला नहीं बनता) चुनौती देने वाली याचिका का हिस्सा हैं। आईटीएससी ने लूज शीट्स और कंप्यूटर प्रिंट आउट समेत उन दस्तावेजों को आसनी से खारिज कर दिया है, जिनमें सहारा की ओर से 14  राजनीतिक दलों के 100 नेताओं को रिश्वत देने का ब्योरा दर्ज है। पिछले साल नवंबर में सामने आए इस मामले ने खलबली मचा दी थी। हालांकि कुछ अखबारों में इसकी खबरें आईं लेकिन इलेक्ट्रॉनिक मीडिया ने इसे नजरअंदाज करना ही बेहतर समझा।
 
बहरहाल शाह की चिट्ठी में कहा गया है कि आयकर विभाग ने अपने अप्रैजल रिपोर्ट में सहारा और बिड़ला की इन दलीलों बकवास करार दिया है कि जब्त दस्तावेज सही नहीं हैं। विभाग का कहना है कि ये दस्तावेज पूरी तरह से सही और वास्तविक हैं।
 
सहारा समूह के यहां से जब्त तीन एक्सेल शीट में दस महीने के अंदर 115 करोड़ रुपये की नकदी हासिल होने और 113 करोड़ की नकदी के पेमेंट का ब्योरा है। पहली शीट 4 मार्च, 2014 तक की है और दूसरी सीट क्रमशः 22 फरवरी, 2014 और 12 नवंबर 2013 की है। तीन शीट्स की एंट्री मिलती हैं। इससे साफ पता चलता है कि देश के कुछ अहम नेताओं को नकदी दी गई। एक्सेल शीट में इस बात पूरा ब्योरा दर्ज है कि किसे, कितना और किसके जरिये भुगतान किया गया है। इसलिए अगर इन ब्योरों को गलत या अवास्तविक बताया जा रहा है तो इसकी जांच जरूरी है।   
 
बिड़ला के मामले में इनकम टैक्स विभाग ने समूह के समूह के डीजीएम (अकाउंट्स) आनंद सक्सेना समेत कई वरिष्ठ अधिकारियों से पूछताछ की है।

आयकर विभाग के अप्रैजल रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक सक्सेना ने कथित तौर पर पांच साल से अनकाउंटेंड ट्रांजेक्शन का ब्योरा मेंटेन किया हुआ था। इस अकाउंट में कुछ आंगड़ियों से पैसा आता रहा था। वह जेके तुलस्यान, आरके कासलीवाल और एएन अग्रवाल से ऐसी रकम हासिल करने के लिए संपर्क में थे। (ये आदित्य बिड़ला समूह की अलग-अलग कंपनियों के कर्मचारी हैं)।
 
रिश्वत की जो रकम रिकार्ड में दर्ज है वो बिड़ला की कई परियोजनाओं को मंजूरी देने के एवज में दी गई है। इनमें 750 मेगावाट के पावर प्लांट के लिए महान कोल ब्लॉक से कोयला निकालने की मंजूरी शामिल है। इस चिट्ठी में यह भी लिखा गया है कि 8 नवंबर 2011 से 17 जून 2013 के बीच तत्कालीन पर्यावरण और वन मंत्री के कार्यकाल में आदित्य बिड़ला समूह के 13 प्रोजेक्ट पास किए  गए।

इन सारे दस्तावेजों में सबसे विवादास्पद वह एंट्री है, जिसमें गुजरात के मुख्यमंत्री रहते नरेंद्र मोदी को 55 करोड़ रुपये देने का जिक्र है।
 
जस्टिस ए पी शाह सिटीजन्स व्हिसलब्लोअर फोरम (सीडब्ल्यूएफ) के अध्यक्ष हैं। अन्य संस्थापक सदस्य हैं जस्टिस संतोष हेगड़े ( पूर्व सुप्रीम कोर्ट जज), एडमिरल  रामदास ( पूर्व नेवी चीफ) वजाहत हब्बीबुल्लाह ( पूर्व मुख्य सूचना आयुक्त) डॉ. ईएएस सरमा ( पूर्व सचिव, भारत सरकार), अरुणा राय ( सामाजिक कार्यकर्ता), जगदीप छोकड़ (प्रमुख, एसोसिएशन ऑफ डेमोक्रेटिक रिफॉर्म्स और पूर्व प्रोफेसर आईआईएम, अहमदाबाद) और प्रशांत भूषण (वरिष्ठ वकील, सुप्रीम कोर्ट)।

The post सहारा-बिड़ला की ओर से मुख्यमंत्रियों नौकरशाहों को रिश्वत देने के पक्के सबूत – जस्टिस एपी शाह appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
Calling the seized documents “clear evidence of systematic bribery of politicians including several Chief Ministers and public servants by these business groups, ” the letter states that the CWF is in possession of the Apprisal report that document these bribes. The letter by Justice AP Shah may be read here.
 
The letter also states that the CWF has learnt that the CBI (in case of Birla) and the Income Tax Department (in case of Sahara) had recovered and seized documents, notes, laptops and huge amounts of cash.
 
On January 5, Sabrangindia had reported how completely ignored the Income Tax Department’s Appraisal report commenting on the systematic bribes given to politicians.  The same day, following Supreme Court proceedings in the matter, newspapers had reported how, in after the surprise and hastily passed order by the IT Settlement Commission (ITSC) the Sahara group got sudden immunity when the tax panel, the ITSC that had earlier rejected the application of the company suddenly on September 5, 2016 re-admitted it and accepted the companies claim that the seized papers are not real evidence!

The ITSC order and other incriminating documents are part of the ongoing legal effort in the Supreme Court. The evidence so easily dismissed by the ITSC (that it discusses at length in the order) includes the loose sheets and computer print-outs which form the ‘Sahara diaries’ that have alleged payoffs to over 100 politicians from more than 14 parties. This had created a political storm in mid-November when the allegations became public though much of the electronic media chose to ignore them.
 
The IT department’s Appraisal Report had “disbelieved the bogus explanations given by Sahara and Birla officers ad had held that the seized documents were correct and non-fictititious” that depicted the real state of affairs, says Shah’s letter.
 
Justice Shah’s letter reiterates that in the Sahara case, some of the relevant seized documents are the printouts of three Excel sheets showing cash receipt of over Rs 115 crore and cash outflow of over Rs 113 crores during a short period of 10 months. While the first sheer goes up to
While the first sheet goes up to March 4, .2014, the others relate to February 22, 2014 and even November 12, 2013, respectively. The entries in all the three sheets tally with each other. The logs suggest that cash was apparently transferred to several important public figures. The excel sheets show the date of payment, to whom money was paid, the amount paid, through whom it was paid and the place of payment. Therefore, it has been argued, that they contain enough information to initiate a thorough investigation.
 
In the Birla case, the IT Department interrogated in detail senior officers of the Birla group including DGM(Accounts) Anand Saxena.  Through this interrogation and as recorded by the IT department’s appraisal report, Saxena reportedlu maintained records of unaccounted transactions for the last about 5 years continuously and used to receive unaccounted cash through certain angadias on a regular basis for that purpose: he was in touch with persons like GK Tulsian, RK Kasliwal and AN Agarwal to receive such cash (employees of different companies of the Aditya Birla Group. The entries on the alleged bribes given relate to specific project clearances of the group including the 750 MW powerplant supposed to draw coal from the Mahan Coal Block. The letter also notes that during the tenure of the ‘then Minister, Environment& Forest, as many as 13 projects of the Aditya Birla Group companies were cleared between November 8, 2011 and June 17, 2013.
 
One of the most controversial entries was payment to ‘Gujarat CM’ interpreted widely as a total payment of not less than Rs 55 crores to then chief minister, Gujarat,Narendra Modi.
 
Justice Shah is the Chairperson of CWF. Other founder members of CWF are Justice Santosh Hegde (former SC judge), Admiral Ramdas (former Chief of Naval Staff), Mr. Wajahat Habibullah (first CIC), Dr. EAS Sarma (former GoI secretary), Aruna Roy (social activist), Jagdeep Chhokar (Association for Democratic Reforms and former Prof IIM Ahmedabad), and Prashant Bhushan (advocate, SC).

The post Clear Evidence of Bribes of CMS, Bureaucrats in Sahara-Birla Payoffs: Justice AP Shah appeared first on SabrangIndia.

This morning, on January 5, newspapers reported how in a surprise and hastily passed order by the IT Settlement Commission (ITSC) the Sahara group got sudden immunity when the tax panel, the ITSC that had earlier rejected the application of the company suddenly on September 5, 2016 re-admitted it and accepted the companies claim that the seized papers are not real evidence!

The ITSC order and other incriminating documents are part of the ongoing legal effort in the Supreme Court. The evidence so easily dismissed by the ITSC (that it discusses at length in the order) includes the loose sheets and computer print-outs which form the ‘Sahara diaries’ that have alleged payoffs to over 100 politicians from more than 14 parties. This had created a political storm in mid-November when the allegations became public though much of the electronic media chose to ignore them.
 
A petition pressing for a Supreme Court monitored investigation on the Sahara diaries was filed by Prashant Bhushan in the Supreme Court on November 15, 2016 and the next hearing is now scheduled for January 11, 2016. There were entries suggesting payments to several influential politicians.
 
What is most suspicious is that the ITSC order has concurred with Sahara’s claim that the “evidentiary value” of the “loose sheets” recovered during the raids “could not be proved” by the Income Tax Department.
 
The real question today however is whether the ITSC has completely ignored the “Appraisal report of the Income Tax Department itself that had held to the contrary and the incriminating supporting documents. This report is dated February 27, 2014.
 
Volume 3 and 4 of this Appraisal report have been filed today in the Supreme Court by Common Cause. The report was prepared after detailed questioning of relevant individuals in the Birla group by the department. A quick perusal of parts of the report and the documents annexed to the report, allegedly shows offences of bribery, corruption and black money.
 
At page 16 of the Appraisal report, IT Department recorded the documents which were seized during the raid. Regarding Annexure A-1, IT Department has stated: “This is a handwritten notebook containing page 1-49. This contains record of certain transactions relating to receipt and payment of unaccounted cash amounts under various heads. This pertains to the period from July 2010 to March 2012. This is the most incriminating document seized during the raid.” Regarding Annexure A-2, the IT Department has stated: “This annexure is a bunch of loose papers containing pages 1 to 16. These papers contain record of several transactions which are apparently unaccounted. Page nos. 9 and 10 contain record of certain money transactions under account heads similar to account heads mentioned in Annexure A-1”.
 
[[Some of the sensational items recovered s during the raids were seized documents which contain a record of cash transactions from May 2013 to March 2014. The said pages were signed by the Income Tax Officer, one person from the Sahara group and two witnesses at the time of the seizure (dated November 22, 2014 along with signatures]]
 
Some of the relevant documents are the printouts of the three Excel sheets showing cash receipt of over Rs. 115 crore and cash outflow of over Rs. 113 crore during a short period of 10 months. While the first sheet goes up to March 4, .2014, the others relate to February 22, 2014 and even November 12, 2013, respectively. The entries in all the three sheets tally with each other. The logs suggest that cash was apparently transferred to several important public figures. The excel sheets show the date of payment, to whom money was paid, the amount paid, through whom it was paid and the place of payment. Therefore, it has been argued, that they contain enough information to initiate a thorough investigation.
 
Unlike the Jain Hawala case, when diaries with initials tallying with influential persons was seized, the case of Sahara stands on a much better legal footing because here there is a seizure of about Rs 137 crores in cash during the raid.
 
The excel sheet recovered from the computer of one Mr. Sachin Pawar of Sahara Group shows great amount of detail: date of payment, place of payment, person to whom cash is paid and the person who has delivered the case. It also shows corresponding cash received from different sources, primarily one M/s MARCOM. These could be easily further corroborated by checking for call records of the person who delivered the money and to whom it was delivered. Some noting of call records (payout sheet) made may be read here.

 
However, quite shockingly, the Income Tax Department under the Finance Ministry neither took any meaningful action nor forwarded the report to CBI or SIT on Black Money, as was required since incriminating documents showing corruption, bribery and black money had surfaced. It is this inaction that led petitioner Common Cause to move this Hon’ble Court in the coal scam case (WPC 463/2012) seeking a direction to CBI to investigate the documents. On October 12, 2015, the Supreme Court directed the CBI to take action in accordance with law if the documents surfaced in the raid on the Birla Group disclose offences, even though they might be unrelated to the coal block allocation cases.
 
Despite this order, the CBI did not investigate the matter nor register an FIR although many highly incriminating documents suggesting bribery of public servants were recovered and also analyzed by the IT dept. CBI merely transferred the whole investigation to the IT department.
 
After the Sahara Group approached the Settlement Commission to settle the matter, the IT Department strongly countered the company’s attempts to bury the investigation.
 
The IT Department had then stated:
 
“a) On the basis of these seized documents only the assesse firm has voluntarily surrendered income of Rs 1217 crores.
b) When Sh. Sachin Pawar was examined in respect of entries recorded by him, certain contradictions were found in his version as discussed in detail in Rule-9 report. In one statement he states that the whole exercise was done to implicate Shri Dogra and get him punished from the Management. On the other hand in a later statement he says that he intended to pass on information to various Government agencies like IT, SIT etc. When this was pointed out in 245D(4) hearing it was stated by the AR that second statement was in continuation and in addition to first one. It is obvious  to us that there is a direct contradiction here – if information was to be given to IT/SIT, it would not hurt Shri Dogra but the entire Management and the Group itself. Also it is correctly pointed out by PCIT that SIT did not even exist at that point of time.
 
c) Perusal of transactions recorded in the seized documents shows that they have been recorded in a detailed manner with specific amounts and names of persons/premises – something that appears to be true. Also, it is observed that so-called ‘meaningless’ transactions have been recorded on a regular basis over a period of 4-5 years – contention that it is only for the sake of implicating Shri V S Dogra – seems to be unbelievable.
Further, on comparison of the entries of cash receipts as recorded in the seized documents with the entries in the ledger account of cash imprest given to Shri Sachin Pawar from MARCOM, it is observed that all the entries of cash imprest above Rs. 1 crore appearing in the books of Sahara India (MARCOM) in the ledger account of
 
Shri Sachin Pawar have been recorded by Shri Sachin Pawar in the seized documents on the same dates- strongly suggesting thereby that entries made were not fictitious and cannot be called meaningless.”
 
Despite these strong contentions, the Settlement Commission, settled the case on November 11, 2016 and absolved Sahara of all criminal and civil liability on specious grounds.
 
Prashant Bhushan for Common Cause had sent them a letter on November 8, 2016 requesting them not to allow any settlement in the matter.
 
Settlement Commission Order may be read here

 
It is not only the Enforcement Directorate (ED) but the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) under the Ministry of Finance that had found large number of suspicious cash transactions on a very large number of accounts linked with the Sahara Group. A list of as many as 4574 bank accounts was prepared showing such transactions.
 
Issues of transparency and accountability have also been raised by the disclosure of the fact that the GOI under Narendra Modi, on November 14, 2014 appointed by formal order K.V. Chowdury to the position Advisor to the SIT on Black Money, after demitting office as Chairperson, CBDT. Chowdury was given the supervisory charge on the subjects being handled by Member (Investigation), CBDT including investigations and subsequent actions. This is the relevant period when the raid on Sahara Group took place and the subsequent investigation was conducted by the IT Department.  The office order appointing Chowdury may be read here.
 
Occupying this critical post as advisor to the SIT on black money, it was the duty of Chowdury to ensure that a credible criminal investigation was initiated by the relevant agency when incriminating documents of the Sahara Group surfaced showing offences of bribery and corruption being committed after the raid on November 22, 2014, especially since it is clear that the above documents disclosed the bribing of several influential persons by the Sahara Group.
 
All the information ought to have been shared by the IT Department with the CBI & the SIT on Black Money, since the matter under the SIT’s jurisdiction was not limited to Income Tax violations, but included bribery, corruption and possession of black money. The persons named in the diary ought to have been investigated, but it was not done.
 
Background
It was during the investigations with relation to coal block allocations to Hindalco Industries, an Aditya Birla group company, that the CBI conducted simultaneous search operations in four cities – New Delhi, Mumbai, Secunderabad and Bhubaneshwar on 15.10.2013. The documents seized by the CBI in its search operation reportedly revealed massive bribery of politicians and officials of various ministries by the Aditya Birla group over several years. The simultaneous search operation conducted on October 15, 2013 by the CBI at the Aditya Birla group’s office at Parliament Street, New Delhi, reportedly led to the recovery of incriminating documents and a huge stash of unaccounted cash amounting to Rs. 25 crore. Although the documents seized indicated the commission of offences of corruption, bribery, possession of black money, and also of income tax violations, the CBI, instead of conducting a thorough scrutiny of their contents, simply transferred the highly incriminating documents to the Income Tax Department.

It is clear that ordinary citizens, human rights activists remain at the aim of fire of the CBI and India’s agencies while powerful men and women in power and corporations simply get away.
 

The post Sahara Diaries, Bribery & Corruption in High Places: Order of the ITSC Ignores IT Dept’s Appraisal Report appeared first on SabrangIndia.