Tamil Nadu IRS officer who earlier criticized FM Nirmala Sitharaman, suspended day before retirement
Chennai: Indian Revenue Services (IRS) Officer B. Balamurugan, who earlier criticized Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, was suspended on January 29, two days before he was set to formally retire. According to an official notice sent to Balamurugan, disciplinary proceedings have also been initiated against him. The notice does not mention any reason for Balamurugan suspension, reports thewire.in.
The bureaucrat was in the news for allegedly criticizing Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam, writing to the President Droupadi Murmu and demanding to sack her.
According to thewire.in, Balamurugan had reportedly written to the President Droupadi Murumu accusing the economic intelligence agency Enforcement Directorate (ED) of functioning as an extended arm of the BJP. The officer’s move came following the ED sending summons to Dalit farmers in Tamil Nadu who were engaged in a legal tussle with a local BJP leader.
The controversy arose when the ED issued summons to two Dalit farmers in Tamil Nadu, Kannaiyan and Krishnan, both in their 70s and residents of Attur in Salem district. The farmers were embroiled in a legal dispute with a local BJP leader, Gunashekar. The ED's involvement and its reference to the farmers as 'Hindu Pallars' sparked outrage. The farmers, surviving on a meager Rs 1,000 monthly pension, alleged that the ED targeted them due to their land dispute with Gunashekar, who they accused of attempting to unlawfully seize their property.
Balamurugan, serving as the Deputy Commissioner of Goods and Service Tax (GST) in Chennai, asserted that Nirmala Sitharaman had transformed the ED into a tool for enforcing BJP policies. He labeled the Finance Minister as "unfit to be the Finance Minister of India" and demanded her dismissal. The ED, on January 4, announced its intention to close the case against the farmers, but the closure has not been executed.
Meanwhile, it is worth noting that Balamurugan's wife, Dalit Pravina, is the legal representative for the two farmers. In his letter to the President, Balamurugan highlighted the incident as evidence of the Enforcement Directorate functioning as an extended arm of the BJP, particularly under Nirmala Sitharaman's leadership.
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Shashi Tharoor calls for regulation and taxation instead of banning online gaming
New Delhi(PTI): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday criticised the government’s move to ban online money gaming, warning that such a step would only push the industry underground and strengthen criminal networks.
He also said he had not studied the three Constitution amendment bills seeking to provide a framework for the removal of prime ministers, Union ministers, chief ministers and state ministers detained on serious criminal charges in any detail.
“On the face of it, it is difficult to say it has any problem, but obviously if anyone does something wrong they should not be a minister anyway. I don’t know if there is any other motive,” he remarked.
Discussing the bill seeking to prohibit and regulate online gaming introduced in the Lok Sabha, he said, "I had written a very long article on the argument that by banning online gaming we are simply driving it underground, whereas it could be a useful source of revenue for the government if we legalise it, regulate it and tax it."
He added that many countries have studied the issue in detail and concluded that regulation and taxation can generate funds for social causes, while bans merely enrich “criminal mafias”.
In a post on X, Tharoor recalled that he had “gone on record in 2018 urging the government to legalise, regulate and tax online gaming, rather than drive it underground by banning it, which will merely enhance the profits of the mafia”.
“It’s a pity that the government seems to have derived no lessons from the experience of other countries that have considered this issue,” he wrote.
He added that the bill should at least have been referred to a parliamentary committee “to consider all the pros and cons before rushing it into law”.
The proposed bill prohibits online money gaming and its advertisements, prescribing imprisonment or fines, or both, for violators. It differentiates such games from eSports and online social games, while calling for their promotion.
1/2 I went on record in 2018 urging the government to legalise, regulate and tax online gaming, rather than drive it underground by banning it, which will merely enhance the profits of the mafia. https://t.co/KYi2aTxDQQ
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 20, 2025
