'No extreme harassment', Confident Group's MD says as speculation around CJ Roy's suicide soars

CJ Roy

• Confident Group assures customers all projects will be completed on schedule
• Company reiterates zero-debt, zero-investor status and denies wrongdoing
• Routine Income Tax inspection; company fully cooperated.

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A week after the alleged suicide of its chairman in Bengaluru, the Confident Group on Monday said it remains a zero-debt, zero-investor company and assured customers that all ongoing projects would be completed on time.

Managing Director T A Joseph said the recent Income Tax inspection at the company’s Bengaluru office was a routine procedure and denied allegations of any “extreme harassment" by IT officials during the search.

His remarks came amid controversy surrounding the alleged suicide of Chairman C J Roy during an Income Tax search at the Bengaluru office on January 30. Joseph said IT officials were not adversaries but were implementing government regulations, and described Roy’s brother’s reaction during the inspection as emotional. He added that the company had fully cooperated with the search.

Addressing reporters at a press conference, Joseph reiterated that the Income Tax inspection was a routine exercise and was not triggered by any offence committed by the company. He said officials interacted with the company in a reasonable manner.

Joseph said he would not comment further on Roy’s death but expressed satisfaction with the ongoing Special Investigation Team probe. He stated that the company’s operations are funded solely through sales collections, reiterating its zero-debt, zero-investor status, and said anyone was free to verify the claim.

Responding to questions on whether Malayalam superstar Mohanlal or producer Antony Perumbavoor had invested in the company, Joseph dismissed the claims as baseless. He said their association with the two was limited to the film Casanova and added that they shared a close bond with Roy as family friends.

Joseph also criticised a section of online channels for spreading false information about the company and Roy’s death. He denied allegations of benami transactions or any wrongdoing and questioned what misconduct the deceased chairman could have committed.

He assured customers that all projects would be completed on schedule and said work at all sites had fully resumed after Roy’s death.

C J Roy, founder and chairman of the Confident Group, allegedly died by suicide on January 30 after sustaining bullet injuries from his licensed firearm at his office near Richmond Circle in Bengaluru. The incident took place while a team of Income Tax officials from Kerala was questioning him following searches conducted over the previous three days. Roy had been under the Income Tax department’s scrutiny since December last year, when his office and other premises were searched.