Chandigarh: Corruption charges framed against CGST officer

Charges have been framed under Section 7-A of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code

A CBI court has framed charges against Rajiv Kumar Meherwal, assistant commissioner, Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST), who was booked by CBI in a bribery case in 2021.

On September 30, 2021, CBI had arrested an advocate, Sunil Arora, and booked Meherwal for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of ₹80,000 from the owner of a firm that was allotted a tender for water supply and sanitation work by the Chandigarh municipal corporation. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Charges have been framed under Section 7-A of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

On September 30, 2021, CBI had arrested an advocate, Sunil Arora, and booked Meherwal for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of ₹80,000 from the owner of a firm that was allotted a tender for water supply and sanitation work by the Chandigarh municipal corporation.

According to CBI, the complainant had stated that the allotted works were exempted from service tax as per a central government notification. But the firm received a demand notice from CGST, Chandigarh, for service tax dues worth ₹11,44,898.

The complainant had alleged that Arora informed him that Meherwal could get the matter settled in exchange for ₹1 lakh. The deal was settled at ₹80,000, to be paid to Arora.

But the complainant approached CBI that laid a trap and caught Sunil red-handed while accepting the bribe in Panchkula.