One man army that rises against Corruption, a very interesting plot that was used by Shankar in his All time blockbuster movie ‘ Indian ‘ where Kamal Haasan plays the role of an Independent Fighter who tries to eradicate Corruption. But unfortunately such things happen only in movies. In a Developing Country like India eradication of poverty is such an important thing to do that movies with such plots collect so massively.
Even though India is the Most Populous Nation of the world, the nation is still struggling to gain the maximum momentum of Tax Collection . In a country like India, Goods and Services Tax was introduced with an aim to minimize any type of Tax evasion. But with the GST Officers getting involved in the Bribery cases the sole purpose of such a legislation is getting defeated.
The GST Officers, appointed under the Section 3 of the CGST Act, 2017 or Public Servants according to Section 7A of the New Prevention of Corruption(Amendment) Act 2018, whoever accepts or obtains or attempts to obtain from another person for himself or for any other person any undue advantage as a motive or reward to induce a public servant, by corrupt or illegal means or by exercise of his personal influence to perform or to cause performance of a public duty improperly or dishonestly or to forbear or to cause to forbear such public duty by such public servant or by another public servant, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than three years but which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to fine.
CBI has arrested CGST Inspector serving as a preventive officer at CGST Office Jaipur for accepting a bribe of Rs.10 lakh from the complainant. Inspector Aswal along with the other two officials are slated to appear before the Special CBI Court in Jodhpur.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) arrested a GST Officer, who insisted a cashew trader pay a bribe of Rs. 1.5 lakh for the processing of the requested input tax. Unwilling to do so, the cashew trader filed a complaint to the ACB,which caught the officer red-handed and now the official will have to face the legal consequences as the ACB continues investigation.
The ACB arrested a GST Officer named Malti Ramesh Kathale, who was caught red handed while accepting a bribe of Rs.3000 in exchange of a GST Number. Kathale has been caught by a sting operation of ACB, after which relevant sections of Prevention of Corruption Act (POC) have been charged against him.
The CBI arrested the Central GST Superintendent of Rudrapur Division, Uttarakhand for accepting a bribe of Rs.10,000 from a complainant.
The CBI arrested the GST superintendent in Rourkela, for demanding a bribe of Rs.50,000 from a contractor. The CBI based upon the information from the contractor formulated a plan to catch the officer red-handed. While delivering the initial installment of Rs.20,000 to Kumar the CBI apprehended the officer. Additional developments are anticipated in the case.
Deputy Commissioner of commercial tax under the GST department arrested by Vigilance for accepting a bribe amount of Rs.2 lakh. The accused, Dhanendra Kumar Pandey, was caught red handed at the Capital of UttarPradesh. The accused had demanded for bribe in exchange for facilitating a GST refund of Rs.20 lakh for a data entry firm named “ARDEM Data Services Private Limited”
CBI arrests CGST & Central Excise Superintendent , Odisha, for accepting a bribe of Rs.15,000 from a complainant. The accused demanded Rs.20,000 bribe for expediting the processing of GST refunds totalling Rs.4.77 lakh for the complainant. The arrested official was scheduled to appear before the Special CBI Judge of Bhubaneswar.
The CBI has arrested a superintendent and an Inspector, both of Central Goods & Service Tax, of Himachal Pradesh in a case related to demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs.8,000 from the complainant. The accused demanded a bribe of Rs.12,000 from the complainant through the friend of the complainant for processing and approval of CGST Registration number of his firm.
Based on the complaint filed by a partner of a transport firm, the CBI arrested an Assistant Commissioner and an Inspector of CGST & CX, Navi Mumbai for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs.1.5 lakh for settling Show cause notice under GST. The complainant alleged that the AC demanded a bribe of Rs.6 lakhs for settling the SCN. Further searches are being conducted and the accused will be produced before the competent court as the investigation progresses.
CBI recently arrested an Assistant Commissioner CGTS, GST Commissionerate, Guwahati for demanding and accepting undue advantage of Rs. 50,000 from a taxpayer. A complaint was registered by the aggrieved taxpayer against the officer alleging that a demand and show cause notices were served on him in respect of the civil works carried out by him for which all the due taxes were paid by him. He was called a number of times to CGST office by the officer and one day on his visit to CGST office to enquire about the matter, the said Assistant Commissioner demanded Rs. two lakh as undue advantage for passing favorable orders. After negotiations, the accused allegedly agreed to accept Rs. 50,000/- as bribe.
GST Assistant Commissioner, a high – ranking officer of Dehradun State Tax Department arrested by Vigilance for accepting bribes from a restaurant owner. Assistant Commissioner Shakthikant Dubey demanded a bribe of Rs.1 lakh was eventually reduced to seventy-five thousand rupees following which a sting operation was carried on by the vigilance.
CBI arrests a CGST Superintendent for alleged demand of bribes to the tune of Rs. 50,000 and acceptance of Rs. 20,000 as partial payment. Based on the complaint of Anant Ahuja Construction Pvt Ltd the action was taken by CBI.
Recently, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes (CBIC) has suspended two GST Officials named Bollineni Srinivasa Gandhi and Chilaka Sudha Rani based on a complaint received from Satya Sridhar Reddy Jagan, director of Bharani Commodities and Hyderabad Steels. The duo conspired with other tax officials of the GST department and demanded Rs. 5 crore bribe.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) booked two superintendents of Central GST along with another official for demanding a bribe of Rs.22 lakh. The accused individuals, Satish Sharma and Ankur Godyan, demanded for the bribe from a bullion trader based in the Zaveri Bazar area of south Mumbai to settle the matter.
The soul of the legislation is lost by the series of cases related to the bribery. A GST officer who needs to be a watchful protector of the law and one who needs to give predominant consideration to the anti corruption service, fails in regard to this. But the courage shown by the public in showcasing the corrupt faces of the officers should be appreciated. The mechanism that works towards the creation of an Anti Corruption nation plays an important role in this. After all the pressures and regulations they are going through they are still consistent in carrying on their duty. Such officers who doesn’t loses the spirit are still a ray of hope for the Nation.
Support our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates
