Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan urges judicial inquiry over real estate tycoon C J Roy's death during I-T search

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has sought a judicial inquiry into the death of real estate tycoon C J Roy during an Income Tax search in Bengaluru on January 30.

In a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Vijayan said the incident was "a blot on the tax administration of the country" and pointed to serious lapses in search procedures.

Citing the victim’s brother, he noted allegations of harassment, quoting: "My brother cooperated fully and submitted all documents. Yet the officials kept returning. He told several times that the I-T trouble was unbearable..." Vijayan said while being in complete agreement that tax evasion is a serious problem and every effort has to be taken to curb it, no action leading to loss of a precious human life as it has happened in the case of Roy can be justified in a civilised democratic society.

He said it is quite surprising that the person in whose premises, the Income Tax department was conducting a search and seizure operation, could proceed to lay hands on a loaded gun and shoot himself, when the tax department personnel were going ahead with search operations.

When such operations are proceeding, the premises are to be under the control of the tax officials and the safe conduct of search is the minimum responsibility of the officials, Vijayan said in the letter dated February 1.

It is believed that there are certain rights of the searched person, which are to be respected by the officials, while some duties are cast upon the searched person which she/he has to follow, he said.

"Often it is said that taxation is the price we pay for our civilisation and hence there has to be zero tolerance to tax evasion.

"While fully endorsing this view, one has to equally emphasise the fact that in the name of ensuring tax compliance, uncivilised acts too have to be viewed with zero tolerance," the chief minister said.

He urged the Union Finance Minister to initiate steps to order a judicial inquiry into the matter by getting a Commission of Inquiry constituted with a person who has served in a constitutional court as its head.

Roy, 57, suffered bullet injuries from his licensed firearm at his office near Richmond Circle in Bengaluru.

Soon after a gunshot was heard, staff members rushed to his room and found him lying in a pool of blood. He was immediately taken to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

I-T sources said searches on Roy’s premises had begun about two months ago.

Originally from Kerala, Roy was also the honorary counsel of the Slovak Republic, according to the police.