CBDT offers three months' salary and allowance to 12 senior I-T officers compulsorily retired from service

The government has compulsorily retired from service 12 senior income tax officers, including one of the ranks of the joint commissioner, on charges of corruption and professional misconduct. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) order accessed by Firstpost shows that all 12 officers have been relieved of their duties with immediate effect and the government has offered them three months salary and allowances (calculated at the same rate as they were supposed to be drawing them immediately before their retirement) in lieu of the forced early retirement. The list is topped by a Joint Commissioner rank officer Ashok Aggarwal against whom there are serious complaints of corruption and extortion from businessmen accused of helping self-styled godman Chandraswami. [caption id=“attachment_4347785” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] Besides, Aggarwal, the eleven officers who have been compulsorily retired by the finance ministry include SK Srivastava, Homi Rajvansh, BB Rajendra Prasad, Ajoy Kumar Singh, B Arulappa, Alok Kumar Mitra, Chander Saini Bharti, Andasu Ravindar, Vivek Batra, Ram Kumar Bhargava and Swetabh Suman. According to the order, all 12 officers were 50 years of age, and therefore they would be forced to relinquish at least 10 years in service as the mandatory retirement age for government officials is 60. Reports said that among those dismissed is an IRS officer in the post of Commissioner (Appeal) in Noida, who was accused of sexual harassment to two lady IRS officers of Commissioner rank. Another IRS officer who compulsory retired had acquired movable and immovable assets worth over Rs 3.17 crore in the name of self and his family members. These movable and immovable properties had allegedly been acquired by abusing his official position and by corrupt and illegal means. A Commissioner Income Tax, who had a Disproportionate Assets case registered against him by the anti-corruption branch of the CBI, and was suspended from service in October 2009 pending criminal prosecution was also compulsorily retired by the government. Another officer involved in cases of corruptions and extortion and who had passed many wrongs and malafide assessment orders which were later on reversed by the appellate authorities too was retired from the service. An officer amassed disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 1.55 crore, which is 133.71 percent of his known sources of income and using hawala channels for transferring the ill-gotten money too was compulsorily retired from the service. Another officer of Commissioner rank, accused of demanding Rs 50 lakh bribe for giving relief to a businessman in a shell company matter, and abusing his official position as a public servant to acquire immovable/movable assets from his ill-gotten money amounting to Rs 3.13 crore was also compulsorily retired. With inputs from PTI