The government has approved the compulsory retirement of 15 more Income Tax officials.
Friday’s decision takes the total number of compulsorily retired tax officials — from both direct and indirect tax departments — to 64.
The government had previously compulsorily retired 49 senior tax officials in four branches.
Significantly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independent Day speech, said, “Some black sheep in the tax administration may have misused their powers and harassed taxpayers,” but the government would not “tolerate this type of behaviour”.
The latest compulsory retirements ordered are for senior officers, ranging from the rank of Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax to Additional Commissioner of Income Tax, and several commissioners of Income Tax.
Bribery, graft cases
While most of the I-T officials were caught in bribery and corruption cases, one notable exception was a commissioner-level officer, who also indulged in bigamy, having married a woman without divorcing his first wife, according to sources aware of the developments.
