Central Administrative Tribunal stays sacking of 2 customs, central excise officers; govt transfers CAT judicial member

New Delhi: A single-judge bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has stayed sacking of two of the 15 senior tax officials who were compulsorily retired over charges of corruption and inefficiency, an order that the government saw as not good in law and transferred the judicial member of the tribunal. While the judicial officer was transferred the very next day of the passing of the order, the government has challenged the stay in the Calcutta High Court, which will hear the matter on Friday. A K Patnaik of the Calcutta bench of CAT on 25 June stayed the government order terminating the services of customs and central excise officers G Shree Harsha and Ashok R Mahida. This stay order, sources said, has been challenged by the government in the Calcutta High Court as it believed a single-judge bench of CAT was not competent enough to deal with orders issued invoking rule 56(j) of Fundamental Rules of service of government employees. A day after he gave the stay order, Patnaik was transferred from the Calcutta bench and sent to the Hyderabad bench of CAT, they said. [caption id=“attachment_5107021” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. News18[/caption] Sources said the government questioned Patnaik’s order as it mentioned that the Standing Counsel representing customs and central excise department had made his pleadings whereas the officer concerned had not even appeared before the bench. While Patnaik could not be immediately reached for comments, PTI has reviewed his transfer order issued by the Principal Bench of CAT, New Delhi on June 26. The government had on June 18 dismissed from service 15 senior customs and central excise officials, ranging from the ranks of Principal Commissioner to Assistant Commissioner, on charges of corruption and bribery, invoking rule 56(j). Of these officers, two had approached the Calcutta bench of CAT, and one S S Bisht had approached the Cuttack bench, sources said. “The government has filed petitions in the Calcutta High Court which has listed the matters of G Shree Harsha and Ashok Mahida for hearing on Friday,” a source said. Harsha, who was a Commissioner rank officer, was sacked from the post of ADG DGPM, Chennai, on grounds of possessing disproportionate assets worth Rs 2.24 crore, and CBI had laid a trap to nab him. Mahida has a disproportionate assets case to the tune of Rs 4.52 crore against him. S S Bisht (Assistant Commissioner) Bhubaneshwar GST Zone too has approached CAT challenging his removal. The tribunal, sources said, has reserved its order. Bisht was sacked on the grounds of alleged bribery of Rs 10 lakh from M/s Universal Agency, Kolkata for grant of permission for transportation of fertilisers and other materials to Nepal. The CBI had registered an FIR on 4 January, 2013, in the matter. The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) was established under Article 323 - A of the Constitution for adjudicating disputes and complaints with respect to recruitment and conditions of service of persons appointed to public services.