Bengaluru: Police investigating the seizure of Rs 1.97 crore unaccounted cash from an advocate near Vidhana Soudha have found that the claims made by the advocate that his friends had given him the money were false.
Police sources told DC that advocate Siddhartha H.M. was not able to produce documents related to the cash seized. Earlier, he had claimed that he was planning to buy a property near his office at Chalukya Circle, and his friends Rajendra and Gaffar had given him the money. He had told the police that Rajendra had given him Rs 20 lakh while Gaffar had given him around Rs 1.25 crore. When the police summoned both his friends in connection with the probe, they denied of giving any cash to Siddhartha.
“As part of the probe, we questioned them and it turned out that the advocate’s claims were false. However, we could not do anything in this case as the Income Tax department is investigating it,” an official said.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that Siddhartha has agreed to pay Rs 80 lakh as tax and penalty to the IT department and get the money back. However, there was no official confirmation about it.
CJI probe sought
Social Activist Ravi Krishna Reddy has written to the Chief Justice of India seeking a criminal investigation against R.B. Dharmagoudar, the Judge of CBI Special Court, and Siddhartha H.M., the advocate for Yeddyurappa's sons, in connection with the acquittal of former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa in the corruption case. Reddy alleged there was a direct link between the cash seized by the police and Yeddyurappa’s case. “Evident bribery of CBI judge, who just acquitted Yeddyurappa on Wednesday, Dharamgoudar through his acquittal judgement has glorified corruption and approved abuse of administrative discretion by a public servant to enrich oneself and one's family, effectively ushering a new era of unchecked plundering and institutionalized corruption,” Reddy has stated.
Reddy highlighted a recent case where Siddhartha, lawyer for Yeddyurappa's sons and son-in-law, was caught with Rs 1.97 crore by police at Vidhana Soudha.
