Punjab tax dept officials on mass casual leave to protest FIRs

LUDHIANA: In trouble for cash strapped Punjab government, more than 1,000 officers of the state excise and taxation department have gone on statewide mass casual leave from Monday to protest against arrests and FIRs by vigilance bureau (VB) against several officials on charges of bribery and corruption.
The decision was taken by a steering committee of the department — set up after fresh arrests were made last week — comprising inspectors, excise and taxation officers (ETO), assistant excise and taxation commissioner (AETC), deputy excise and taxation commissioner (DETC) and additional commissioners. They are demanding cancellation of the FIRs and an inquiry by the department rather than the VB. Officials claimed their colleagues have been implicated on the basis of phone conversations.
Due to the mass leave, all the work at the department’s Ludhiana and other offices remained suspended for the entire day.
A senior officer said, “All officers are passing through traumatic times. Everyone was shocked by the two FIRs and arrests of our officers by the VB on August 21 on the basis of phone recordings between two persons. As per the FIRs, phones of officials were on surveillance for six months. If this was the case, why were the officers not caught red-handed while accepting bribes? This is the first-ever case in the state’s history where such harsh action has been taken.”
Another senior officer said, “The entire case has dented the image of the department. Every other day raids are being conducted on our colleagues just on the basis of vague statements. Several times we have to stay in touch with informers to catch the tax evaders, but officers’ calls with these elements, too, are now being questioned and projected as the ones made for demanding a bribe. Our requests to the government have been ignored, so we were forced to go on mass casual leave. With 1,000 officers not reporting on duty, there will be massive revenue loss to the government and cases of tax evasion will also increase. We are on mass casual leave on Tuesday too and if our demands are not met, we might go on an indefinite strike.”