Modi govt sacks 15 customs, central excise officers on charges of corruption, bribery
New Delhi, Jun 18: After sacking errant income tax officers, the government Tuesday dismissed from service 15 senior customs and central excise officials, including one of the rank of principal commissioner, on charges of corruption and bribery.
Invoking rule 56(j) of the Fundamental Rules, the government has sacked these Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) officers ranging from the ranks of Principal Commissioner to Assistant Commissioner, some of whom were already under suspension, according to a Finance Ministry order.
These officers either had corruption cases registered against them by the CBI or were involved in bribery, extortion and disproportionate assets cases, Finance Ministry sources said.
Among those dismissed include Principal Commissioner Anup Srivastava, who was serving as Principal ADG (Audit) in the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) in Delhi, and Joint Commissioner Nalin Kumar, the order said.
Sources told that the CBI had in 1996 registered a criminal conspiracy case against him and alleged that he had shown favours to a house building society which was trying to obtain NOC for land purchases in violation of law.
The CBI had booked another case against him in 2012 for allegedly demanding and accepting bribe from an importer to cover up a duty evasion case.
He also had complaints of selective arrests, harassment and extortion against him.
Joint Commissioner Nalin Kumar, who was under suspension, had CBI cases against him relating to allowing fraudulent drawback and disproportionate assets, too was dismissed from service on Tuesday.
"In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (j) of rule 56 of the Fundamental Rules, the President of India has retired 15 Officers of Indian Revenue Service (C&CE) in public interest with immediate effect on completing 50 years of age," a Finance Ministry tweet said.
All these 15 officers shall be paid a sum equivalent to the amount of pay & allowances for a period of 3 months calculated at the same rate at which they were supposed to be withdrawing them (pay & allowances) immediately before their retirement, it added.
Rule 56(j) of the Fundamental Rules allows the appropriate authority to retire any government servant, in public interest, by giving notice of three months.
Commissioner in Kolkata Sansar Chand, who was allegedly involved in bribery, while Chennai-based Commissioner G Shree Harsha, who had a disproportionate asset case to the extent of Rs 2.24 crore, too were sacked. In case of these two officers, CBI had laid a trap and nabbed them.
Two commissioner rank officers Atul Dikshit and Vinay Brij Singh who were under departmental suspension too have been dismissed from service by the government.
While Dikshit had disproportionate asset case and a CBI case of fraudulent drawback against him, Singh had a DRI case against him of over-invoicing.
Deputy Commissioner Amresh Jain of the Delhi GST zone, who had a Rs 1.55 crore disproportionate asset case and cash recovery of Rs 95.24 lakh against him, was also sacked.
The other customs and central excise officers who were dismissed from service include Additional Commissioner Ashok Mahida (DG Systems, Kolkata), Additional Commissioner Virendra Agarwal.
Besides, Assistant Commissioners S S Pabana (under suspension), S S Bisht (Bhubaneshwar GST zone), Vinod Sanga (Mumbai GST zone), Raju Sekar (Vizag GST zone), Mohd Altaf (in Allahabad) and Deputy Commissioner Ashok Aswal (Directorate of Logistics, Delhi) too have been 'compulsorily retired' by the government, the order said.
Last week, the government had sacked 12 Income-Tax officers on charges of corruption, forgery and professional misconduct, besides demoting four Joint Commissioner rank I-T officers to Deputy Commissioner rank over charges of corruption.
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Bihar: Over 150 children fall ill after consuming 'mid-day meal' in Saharsa
Saharsa (PTI): More than 150 children were taken ill after allegedly consuming food that was part of the mid-day meal in a school in Bihar’s Saharsa district, a senior official said on Thursday.
The incident occurred at a middle school in Baluaha village of the district.
The official said that 115 children were undergoing treatment at the Sadar Hospital, while around 50 students were admitted to Mahishi Public Health Centre.
“We received information that several children fell ill after consuming the mid-day meal in Baluaha. The children were initially treated at the primary health centre, but later, many were referred to the Sadar Hospital,” Saharsa District Magistrate Deepesh Kumar told reporters.
“According to doctors, the health condition of the children has improved, but they will be kept under observation for some time. There is no need to panic. Some kids are having mild fever. They are being treated accordingly,” Kumar said.
Meanwhile, family members of some children claimed that a snake was found in the container in which cooked pulses was stored at the school.
Of the 545 students present in the school, 200 had already eaten their meals by the time the snake was spotted, and later complained of stomach ache and vomiting, they said.
Regarding the claims, the DM said food samples have been collected from the school.
“We will be able to comment on this only after the results of the tested samples arrive,” he said.
