GST fraud: Vij refers probe to Hry DGP, 3 officials shunted

Gurgaon: Haryana home minister Anil Vij on Tuesday referred the investigation into the GST input tax credit fraud, in which two chartered accountants (CAs) were arrested last week, to the state police chief on Tuesday after meeting a delegation from the institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), which has been protesting against the arrests.
The ICAI is demanding a detailed investigation by an independent agency into the fraud and the role of CGST officials. The association had earlier met Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman after the deputy commissioner and a superintendent in the CGST (Gurgaon) office were suspended on Monday.
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, which comes under the Union ministry of finance, issued an order on Wednesday for the transfer of three senior CGST officials. Gurgaon commissioner Meenu Kumar has been transferred to Siliguri CGST (appeals). Paul Rajendera Lakra, the commissioner (appeals) of CGST Delhi zone, will be the new CGST commissioner of Gurgaon. Additional commissioner Abhinav Yadav has been transferred to Bhubaneshwar, while deputy commissioner Gurgaon Ankit Agrawal has been deputed to the Lucknow CGST office.
Members of the association, who have been staging protests in front of the Gurgaon CGST office since May 20, said they are meeting senior political leaders in both the state and central governments to highlight the case and roles of senior CGST officials. “The CAs are being made scapegoats. The fraud cannot be committed without active involvement of CGST officials at multiple levels. Suspension or transfer of officials isn’t enough. We want them to be booked and arrested,” said Naveen Garg, chairman of North India Regional Council of ICAI.
He said an ICAI delegation met minister Anil Vij on Wednesday. “We presented our case to him and briefed him about the case. He listened to us and referred the case to the Haryana DGP for further investigation,” Garg added.
Mohit Singhal, chairman of the Gurgaon chapter of ICAI, said: “If the arrested CAs are guilty, the court will decide their case. But the question is, when will action be taken against the CGST officials involved?”
ICAI member Pradeep Yadav said they have also received support from the district taxation bar association of Gurgaon. ICAI is now planning to move the high court and Supreme Court against the CGST officials. “We are planning to take our legal fight to higher courts. Bail applications for the two CAs will also be filed in the sessions court,” Yadav added. Scrutiny into the fraud began after an anonymous complaint was filed with CGST on May 2 about fraudulent ITC claims of around Rs 15 crore. On May 4, the CGST anti-evasion wing started a probe over fraudulent refunds to eight entities and searched their premises.
The anti-evasion wing has since extended its investigation to cover 12 more entities. Gurgaon-based CAs Sunil Mahalawat and Gaurav Dhir were arrested on May 18 for issuing certificates to two of the entities for ITC refunds amounting to crores under Section 132 (punishment for falsifying records or abetment to fraud) of the CGST Act.