21 tax officials forced to retire over graft allegations

This time the action has been taken against corrupt Central Board of Direct Taxation officials in the rank of income-tax officers (ITO), they said.

The government on Tuesday forced another 21 tax officials to retire over allegations of corruption, professional misconduct and possession of illegal cash, taking the total number of such officials to 85 since June this year, two finance ministry officials said requesting anonymity.

The government on Tuesday forced another 21 tax officials to retire over allegations of corruption (Pradeep Gaur/ Mint)

This time the action has been taken against corrupt Central Board of Direct Taxation officials in the rank of income-tax officers (ITO), they said.

“This is the fifth round of operation clean-up undertaken this year. With this, till now 85 officers, including 64 high-ranking tax officers from both Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and CBDT have been compulsorily retired under Fundamental Rule 56(J),” the first official said.

The rule empowers the government to proceed against corrupt officials on the basis of available evidence. “The same retirement benefits are admissible to these persons [officials compulsorily retired] as applicable to officers upon retirement on normal age of superannuation,” the official said.

According to officials, one ITO posted in Rajahmundry was forced to retire because she was caught receiving ~150,000 bribe. Another official in Visakhapatnam was trapped by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which recovered ~75,000 from his office in addition to the recovery of~30,000 during the operation.