Yeddyurappa’s handwriting could not be examined in the absence of the original diary

In the absence of the original diary, the Central Forensic Science Laboratory at Hyderabad reported it was not possible to examine the authenticity of the loose papers purportedly bearing the signature of former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, explained CBDT in a statement issued on Friday.

Signed by Income Tax Commissioner Surabhi Ahluwalia, the department explained that the loose pages, xerox copies of a diary, were found in August 2017 during a search and seizure operation at premises owned by INC Karnataka leader D.K. Sivakumar.

In his deposition to the IT department on October 19, D.K. Sivakumar asserted that while he could not authenticate the genuineness of the documents, he believed they were entries made by BS Yeddyurappa. The entries were related to amounts received from ministers and MLAs when BSY was the chief minister and also amounts paid out to different leaders.

He also told the department that being a politician he did receive and collect information about public servants and other political leaders. And he would not disclose the source who may have given him the pages. He wasn’t aware of the time of the transactions, he declared.

B S Yeddyurappa was also confronted with the pages on November 25. He told the department that he was not in the habit of maintaining any diary and that the entries were not made by him. As such he denied any knowledge of the transactions mentioned in the loose pages.

In April 2018 the department wrote to the CFSC, Hyderabad to examine the pages and compare the handwriting and signature of B S Yeddyurappa on the loose pages with his handwriting and signature obtained by the department.

However, the CFSL wrote back to say that it would require the original diary for making comparisons and authenticating the signature and writing on the loose pages.

However, despite efforts made by the department, the original diary could not be found, the statements avers. Hence the loose pages appeared to be dubious, it concluded.