The transactions which attracted the attention of top Congress leaders are mentioned in what is widely known as the 'Birla diaries' which income-tax authorities recovered in October 2013 during a survey of the Aditya Birla Group's offices in New Delhi.
Senior Congress leaders say the call was taken to ask Natarajan to resign after they became aware of the alleged transactions, more so because the leadership had already received complaints about her conduct from a number of industrialists. Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told a press conference in Delhi that the term 'Jayanthi tax' was well-known and understood in business circles.
These documents, which have been reviewed by ET, refers to payments made on 13 different occasions between January 9, 2012 and February 2, 2012.
These payments, as the diary describes them, were for the "purpose" of "Project J-Environment & Forest". The diary does not name the person to whom payments were made. "In August 2013, at a meeting organised by my ministry attended by the head honchos of corporate India, two industrialists brought to my attention how Jayanthi Natarajan was conducting the affairs in the environment ministry," senior Congress leader and former commerce minister Anand Sharma told ET.
"According to these industrialists, they were told to deal with a specific OSD only after which their files would be cleared. I had brought this matter to the prime minister's attention.
Subsequent to that, I was informed about how she was mentioned in the Birla diaries, which turned out to be the last straw. That alone, and nothing else, was the reason for her removal," Sharma said. A top executive of the Aditya Birla group said he was shocked that his group was being dragged into the Jayanti episode.
"We do not understand how this matter regarding Ms Jayanthi Natarajan is being even remotely connected to us. We are unable to make any sense of this. We categorically deny any payment made to the environment ministry for any clearance. Speculation in this regard is ill-motivated and extremely vicious. We believe it is intended to cause prejudice against us in the ongoing investigations in the Hindalco coal allocation matter. In the matter of the IT, as the issue is under investigation, it is inappropriate for us to comment," said a statement from the group.
Sharma said he didn't have more details on the reference in the diaries since he wasn't the minister in charge but says it was brought to his attention.
Congress spokesperson Singhvi declined comment when asked whether allegations of payments made to the environment ministry as mentioned in the diaries was the precipitating factor for Natarajan's removal.
Despite repeated attempts, Natarajan did not respond to calls or text messages sent to her phone soliciting a comment.
A senior Congress leader told ET that once the government became aware of the content of the diary, it asked Natarajan to resign as minister pending investigation. "It is now widely known in political circles how much was allegedly paid to her. This was brought to the PM's attention which is why she was sacked," says the senior leader who is close to the Gandhis.
The notings in the diaries recovered by the IT department are now being probed by it and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). In a press conference earlier, Natarajan quit the Congress party and accused its vice-president Rahul Gandhi for making "specific requests" on stalling projects. She also accused his office of "planting" stories against her.
Natarajan strongly denied any allegation of wrongdoing and said she was "ready to be hung" if there was any proof against her. Responding to the allegations, top Congress leaders openly accused Natarajan of corruption. In the press conference Singhvi said she seemed to be the only person who didn't know why she was sacked and said her press conference might have been precipitated by information that corporates had on her.
The Indian Express had reported on December 6, 2013 that the CBI had turned over to the Supreme Court two diaries recovered from the Aditya Birla Group office which contained details of "payments" allegedly made to a number of politicians.
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