The Union government on August 26, 2019, announced that the President had ordered the compulsory retirement of 22 more tax officials due on charges of corruption and other offences.
In June, the President ordered the compulsory retirement of 27 tax officials.
“The Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) has compulsorily retired yet another 22 senior officers of the rank of Superintendent/AO under Fundamental Rule 56 (J) in the public interest, due to corruption and other charges and CBI traps,” a Finance Ministry official said on the condition of anonymity.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a few recent speeches and interviews highlighted that “some black sheep” in the tax administration had misused their powers and harassed taxpayers, either by targeting honest assessees or by taking excessive action for minor or procedural violations. Action was being taken against them, he said.
Notably, nine out of the 22 officers compulsorily retired had been posted at different times as Sector Officers at a single company — Ellora Tobacco Company in Indore.
These officers “played the role of facilitating the excess unrecorded clandestine production and clearances of cigarettes”, the Ministry official said. The Director General of the Central Excise Intelligence had detected clandestine production and clearances and investigated the case and issued two show-cause notices demanding a total duty of ₹1,03,74,648 and another demanding a total duty of ₹28,39,43,195 from the tobacco firm.
The other officers out of the 22 were implicated in cases of bribery, extortion, smuggling, and concealment of evidence.
