BENGALURU: Following the suicide of Confident Group chairman CJ Roy at his office on Langford Road on January 30, the state government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) the next day.
Considering the allegations made by Roy’s family that harassment by Income Tax (IT) officers is the reason for the suicide, questions are being raised whether the SIT can unearth the truth, as documents related to case files of alleged tax evasion would be in the custody of the central agency.
According to experts, the SIT can question IT officers only to record their statements. It is the prerogative of IT officers to share all case details with the SIT.
“IT officers were interviewing Roy as they wanted to know about something they had found through months of information gathering. Roy was not being interrogated. In this case, it is unlikely that IT officers can be held responsible for Roy’s suicide. Since a team of four IT officers was in the building at the time of the suicide, they will definitely give their statements to clear their names.
They would have also shared the purpose of their visit to Roy’s office on the fateful day. If they are forced to share documents, IT officers might approach court, accusing SIT officers of unduly harassing them. There are all chances that Roy, out of fear of getting caught, must have taken the extreme step,” a retired IPS officer said.
Senior advocate S Shyamsundar said the SIT is duty bound to question IT officials since the incident took place when IT officials were present in the building. “IT officials can either deny or agree to share documents pertaining to the raid by telling the SIT to look into just the crime part of the investigation,” the advocate added.