Key Points
A sessions court in New Delhi has stayed an order passed by a magistrate earlier this month directing the Income-Tax Department to initiate proceedings against IAS officer Anil Tuteja, his son and Chhattisgarh CM's deputy secretary Saumya Chaurasia for allegedly furnishing false statements and evidence.. The magistrate had directed the department to file cases under the Income Tax Act and the Indian Penal Code against the trio..
The IAS officer moved the sessions court, claiming that there was no "lawful occasion" for the magistrate to pass the order that he said was "premature"...
The tax department produced before the magistrate several WhatsApp chats purportedly exchanged between the IAS officer and Chaurasia allegedly discussing bribes and monies to be paid to several functionaries of Chhattisgarh Congress including its treasurer...
The magistrate's order, citing the tax department's claim, said the accused purportedly discussed matters like payment of 4.5 crore of bribe by a bureaucrat to the PCC treasurer, 75 lakh utilised for the construction of the house of a PCC spokesperson, 3 lakh given to the accused No. 4, namely Anwar Dhebar (brother of the mayor of Raipur), and the amount paid by another individual for the settlement of a corruption case, etc...
The department also produced WhatsApp chats allegedly between the IAS officer and another co-accused "regarding proposals of percentage shares of manufacture of country liquor, beer amongst various distillers of Raipur for FY 2019-20"..
