Don’t know how diary landed in my house: Govind Raj

MLC tells Express that the diary which reportedly has details about payments made to Cong high command was planted in his house

BENGALURU: Congress MLC K Govind Raj has once again said the diary that was seized by Income Tax officials from his residence does not belong to him. The diary, which reportedly gives details of alleged payments made to the Congress high command, is at the centre of an ongoing political slugfest between Congress and BJP leaders in the state.

Govind Raj, who is also parliamentary secretary to the Chief Minister, said IT officials had searched his residence on March 15, 2016 and seized papers and documents. “I was not present in the house when they surveyed my residence. When I returned I was told they had also seized a diary from the house. I immediately realised that this was mischievous and told officials it was not mine,” Govind Raj told Express.

The entire diary is written using the
same pen and ink, claims Raj

“I lodged a police complaint on March 21, 2016, asking the police to investigate this matter. I suspected that the diary was planted in my house. I have been maintaining all along that it did not belong to me,” he said. 

“The diary in question is supposed to have entries made over two-and-a-half years, but the book looked new and all entries seemed to have been made using one pen and the same ink. How is this even possible,” he asked.

Govind Raj said he was called in for questioning by the investigation wing of the IT department on January 30 and he had told them the same thing. He said he was called again and believes that it’s a ploy to harass him in the name of investigation. 

He further said after BJP ‘revealed’ the contents of the diary, he had written to the Director General of I-T (Investigations) seeking to know whether the contents had been released outside. He said he did not get a proper reply.

In his response to the IT Department given during investigation last year, Govind Raj repeatedly denied he had anything to do with the diary.

 “I do not know how many times I need to say that the said seized document does not belong to me. The inferences drawn by you are baseless and irrelevant. Even if you ask me a hundred times, my answer will remain the same,” the statement said.