Rahul attacks PM on Sahara issue latching on to ITSC order

NEW DELHI: Latching on to an order from I-T settlement authority giving relief to Sahara Group, Rahul Gandhi today demanded an inquiry into Sahara diaries asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi why he fears such a probe.

"Immunity for Sahara or immunity for Modiji? If your conscience is clear Modiji why fear investigation?", the Congress Vice President tweeted.

Gandhi's tweet came close on the heels of a media report which said Income Tax Settlement Commission (ITSC) has granted Sahara immunity from prosecution and penalty following raids conducted on November 2014 during which the purported "diaries" listing alleged pay-offs to politicians were recovered.

Significantly, the ITSC has concurred with Sahara's claim that the "evidentiary value" of the "loose sheets" recovered during the raids "could not be proved" by the Income Tax Department, according to the report.

The report claimed that the order showed that the ITSC had earlier rejected the application of the company and then on September 5, 2016 re-admitted it.

Gandhi had alleged a fortnight back that Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister had taken money from Sahara and Birla groups and had demanded an independent inquiry into it, a charge BJP rejected as an attempt to divert attention from AgustaWestland probe in which the names of Congress leaders and the "family" were coming up.