Does the Karnataka State’s Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) have the jurisdiction to raid Income Tax officials who are Central Government employees? This question has stirred a hornet’s nest in Karnataka, with political leaders also joining in the argument.
What started it all was the letter by the I-T Department to the state police on possible raids by ACB on their officials about a fortnight ago.
B R Balakrishnan, Director General (Investigation), Karnataka and Goa, Income Tax Department, had written to DG and IGP R.K. Dutta that the department had information about ACB's plans to raid I-T officials. In the letter, Mr. Balakrishnan claimed that the ACB had no jurisdiction over the I-T department, which comes under the Centre. “If the ACB has any information about corruption or irregularities, they should either inform the senior I-T officials or the Central Bureau of Investigation as per procedure, he said in the letter.
The state police department, in its reply, stated that the ACB had no plans to raid I-T officials. The department has also added that the tip-off received by the I-T department was “false.”
However, a senior police officer from the ACB said that the bureau can indeed conduct inquiry or take action against any public servant “irrespective of his affiliation with the state or the central government.” But there were no such plans, he clarified.
Meanwhile, the letter has kicked up a political row with the opposition BJP calling it “misuse of government machinery.” In response, Home Minister R. Ramalinga Reddy said that it was the centre that was misusing Enforcement Directorate, I-T department, CBI and other investigating agencies, and not the state government. “The ACB knows its jurisdiction and the state government will not interfere in its functioning,” he said.