New Delhi:
Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley has asked for a probe by a Special Investigating Team or SIT into the NDTV expose last week on documents seized by the income tax department that listed payments made in cash to several government officials in the steel and coal ministry as well as state-run firms. The diarised entries record payments from 2007 to 2010. At that time Congress leader Virbhadra Singh was the Steel Minister.
"The least the tax department has to do is to inform the CBDT, the Secretary Revenue or the Finance Minister and through that the Prime Minister's office because the kind of people who are suspected to be involved really show us the kind of mess there is in governance today. And for 22 months nothing has happened. So the question is: Are these books of account prima facie evidence? I don't know where Congress got this jurisprudence from - that an entry in a diary is not evidence. An SIT constituted of some very distinguished investigators of the country, who are above board, only then you can restore public confidence in governance," Mr Jaitley told NDTV.
The documents show that little over Rs 2 crore had been paid in four instalments from October 2009 to October 2010 to "VBS". At the time, IIL was owned and run by Pramod and Vinod Mittal, brothers of steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal.
Coincidentally, when the raids took place, Mr Singh was the Steel Minister. He told NDTV on Friday that the initials do not refer to him, and that there is no need for an investigation.
"Shri Virbhadra Singh is wrong on all counts," the BJP's Arun Jaitley told NDTV in an exclusive interview. "The issue is not whether he refers to himself as 'VS' or 'VBS'. The issue is whether the steel manufacturer who maintained these books of accounts refers to him as 'VBS' or not," he said. Mr Jaitley added, "These are regular books of accounts. There is a serial number, date of payment or receipt, the person to whom the payment is made, the person who authorised the payment, the quantum of money paid or received and the balance which remains in the account."
Mr Singh was transferred out of the Steel Ministry a month after the raids. In a statement to NDTV on Friday, Pramod Mittal denied these payments. He said "that his companies follow best corporate practices."
After the raids, income tax officials wrote to the Chief Vigilance Officer of every government department to ask for a response. The country's Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma, said, "In 2010, certain documents were recovered during a raid on the steel company owned by Lakshmi Mittal's brother. The documents mentioned 'VBS' as also the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. 'VBS' could be anybody's name...it is unnecessarily being highlighted. If you want to probe VBS, then the Madhya Pradesh CM should also be investigated. It is a fake case." He also said that his ministry had forwarded a file to the Finance Ministry clarifying that vigilance officials did not find any signs of kickbacks in the documents presented to them.
When asked about entries in the document about payments to members of the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhad, Mr Jaitley said, "The battle is against corruption, then let the probe happen. If there are issues about these states, we are not afraid."
Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has said that it is examining the issue after media reports. But with the documents showing that IIL also made payments allegedly to members of the investigating agency right around the time the firm was raided by income tax officials, the agency finds itself in an uncomfortable corner.
The documents from the company said that in December 2009, "amount of expenses CBI-ED staff" were Rs. 20,000. In February 2010, "miscellaneous expenditure incurred on CBI" is entered as Rs. 15,000.
"The least the tax department has to do is to inform the CBDT, the Secretary Revenue or the Finance Minister and through that the Prime Minister's office because the kind of people who are suspected to be involved really show us the kind of mess there is in governance today. And for 22 months nothing has happened. So the question is: Are these books of account prima facie evidence? I don't know where Congress got this jurisprudence from - that an entry in a diary is not evidence. An SIT constituted of some very distinguished investigators of the country, who are above board, only then you can restore public confidence in governance," Mr Jaitley told NDTV.
The documents show that little over Rs 2 crore had been paid in four instalments from October 2009 to October 2010 to "VBS". At the time, IIL was owned and run by Pramod and Vinod Mittal, brothers of steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal.
Coincidentally, when the raids took place, Mr Singh was the Steel Minister. He told NDTV on Friday that the initials do not refer to him, and that there is no need for an investigation.
"Shri Virbhadra Singh is wrong on all counts," the BJP's Arun Jaitley told NDTV in an exclusive interview. "The issue is not whether he refers to himself as 'VS' or 'VBS'. The issue is whether the steel manufacturer who maintained these books of accounts refers to him as 'VBS' or not," he said. Mr Jaitley added, "These are regular books of accounts. There is a serial number, date of payment or receipt, the person to whom the payment is made, the person who authorised the payment, the quantum of money paid or received and the balance which remains in the account."
Mr Singh was transferred out of the Steel Ministry a month after the raids. In a statement to NDTV on Friday, Pramod Mittal denied these payments. He said "that his companies follow best corporate practices."
After the raids, income tax officials wrote to the Chief Vigilance Officer of every government department to ask for a response. The country's Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma, said, "In 2010, certain documents were recovered during a raid on the steel company owned by Lakshmi Mittal's brother. The documents mentioned 'VBS' as also the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. 'VBS' could be anybody's name...it is unnecessarily being highlighted. If you want to probe VBS, then the Madhya Pradesh CM should also be investigated. It is a fake case." He also said that his ministry had forwarded a file to the Finance Ministry clarifying that vigilance officials did not find any signs of kickbacks in the documents presented to them.
When asked about entries in the document about payments to members of the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhad, Mr Jaitley said, "The battle is against corruption, then let the probe happen. If there are issues about these states, we are not afraid."
Meanwhile, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has said that it is examining the issue after media reports. But with the documents showing that IIL also made payments allegedly to members of the investigating agency right around the time the firm was raided by income tax officials, the agency finds itself in an uncomfortable corner.
The documents from the company said that in December 2009, "amount of expenses CBI-ED staff" were Rs. 20,000. In February 2010, "miscellaneous expenditure incurred on CBI" is entered as Rs. 15,000.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
