Continuing its efforts to improve the administrative efficiency of officials, and reduce corruption, the Centre has compulsorily retired another 21 corrupt tax officers in the fifth phase of its crackdown, as per reports.
The agency that oversees income and corporate tax collections, namely, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), has sacked 21 Group B or junior officers holding the rank of Income Tax Officer under Fundamental Rule 56 (J) of Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972, in the public interest, due to corruption and other charges and CBI traps, said the Finance Ministry.
The officers who were part of this latest round of clampdown had demanded or received bribes which ranged between Rs 20,000 and Rs 6 lakh, sources said. These officers were posted across the country, from Hazaribagh in Jharkhand to Mumbai and Hyderabad.
Apart from the revenue department, other central government agencies too, have identified tainted employees and speeded action against them.
According to another report, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) has suspended Deepak Pandit, Assistant Commissioner, on grounds of owning disproportionate assets. The Finance Ministry has alleged that Pandit has expended huge amounts of money in the marriage of his two sons and acquired expensive unaccounted properties in posh areas of Mumbai.
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The Centre had initiated it’s zero tolerance for corruption’ policy, tightening its noose on tainted officials in June this year. With this progression, the total count of corrupt officers, who have been sacked by the Centre until now, stands at 85, including 64 high ranking tax officers out of which 12 were from the CBDT.
Prior to this, the Centre in a similar exercise, sacked 15 Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) officials on charges of corruption in the month of September this year, 22 in August and almost 39 in June, out of which 12 were senior officials, sitting atop bureaucratic ranks.
The government had asked all the departments to conduct a periodic review of officials and list the names of officers with questionable credentials in the monthly report to be submitted to the Department of Public Enterprises on the 15th of every month.
As mentioned in the directive passed on to various departments, based on these reports the compulsory retirement provision will be used to get rid of more tainted officials.