Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan seeks judicial probe into CJ Roy's suicide during IT raid
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Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has urged Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to order a judicial probe into the suicide of Confident Group founder C.J. Roy during an Income Tax raid on January 30 in Bengaluru.
In his letter, Vijayan expressed shock over the entrepreneur's death, calling it a "blot on the tax administration" amid the government's NUDGE policy for non-intrusive tax enforcement. He questioned how Roy accessed a loaded gun and shot himself while officials conducted searches elsewhere in the building, suggesting lapses in protocol like ensuring the searched person's presence and independent witnesses.
Vijayan highlighted Roy's brother's claims of harassment despite full cooperation and document submission, noting repeated official visits. He demanded a time-bound inquiry by a high court judge to examine procedures, prevent future tragedies, and address family grievances, separate from the ongoing Karnataka police investigation.
The CM stressed zero tolerance for tax evasion but equally for uncivilized actions causing loss of life, emphasizing taxation as the price of civilization.
(Inputs from IANS)
