Fight against corruption: CBIC gives marching orders to 22 senior tax officials facing graft charges

Intensifying its action against corruption, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) has reportedly given marching orders to yet another 22 senior officers of the rank of superintendent/AO on corruption and other charges, said media reports.CBIC has compulsorily retired these officers of the rank of superintendent/AO under Fundamental Rule 56 (J) in public interest due to corruption and other charges besides traps laid by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).In the latest move against graft, the CBIC ousted tax officials from a total of 12 zones namely Nagpur, Bhopal, Chennai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Jaipur, Kolkata, Meerut, Mumbai, Bengaluru Customs, Mumbai Customs Zone II, and Chandigarh, said a report in Business Today.[caption id="attachment_4347785" align="alignleft" width="380"]

Representational image. Reuters.[/caption]The officials who have got the marching order include KK Uikey, superintendent Bhopal; SR Parate superintendent Bhopal; Kailash Verma, superintendent Bhopal, KC Mandal, superintendent Bhopal; MS Damor, superintendent Bhopal; RS Gogiya, superintendent Bhopal; Kishore Patel, superintendent Bhopal; JC Solanki, superintendent Bhopal; SK Mandal, superintendent Bhopal; Govind Ram Malviya, superintendent Bhopal; AU Chhapargare, superintendent Bhopal and S Asokaraj superintendent Chennai, the report said.The move is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation on Independence Day."Some black sheep in the tax administration may have misused their powers and harassed taxpayers, either by targeting honest assesses or by taking excessive action for minor or procedural violations," he had said.A CBIC official said: "We have recently taken the bold step of compulsorily retiring a significant number of tax officials, and we will not tolerate this type of behaviour."Some of these officers who have been forced to retire were found to be guilty of corruption, having amassed illegal and disproportionate assets and are facing sexual harassment charges, said a report in CNBC-TV18.In order to identify officers for compulsory retirement under the Fundamental Rule 56(j) of Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972, the Cabinet Secretariat and the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) had reportedly asked the vigilance heads in many departments to initiate the process in that direction, said the report.On 27 June, high-ranking Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers including 12 officers from the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) were compulsorily retired.Authorities have also been trying to maximise revenue collection and enlarge the basket of tax-paying people in the country. The government wants to enhance this base so that more people pay legitimate taxes on their income.— With inputs from agencies