A discreet probe was conducted against Chandra and eight other senior I-T officials by CBI in connection with the Nirav Modi case.
New Delhi: Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chairman Sushil Chandra, whose service file had been awaiting vigilance clearance for the past two months, has finally been given a year’s extension.
This is Chandra’s second extension since taking over as the chairman of the CBDT on 1 November 2016.
According to sources, a discreet inquiry was being conducted against Chandra and eight other senior income tax officials by the CBI, in connection with the Nirav Modi case, according to an India Today report.
The vigilance inquiry, ordered by the Prime Minister’s Office, had put a dampener on Chandra’s extension. Chandra’s file had been with the PMO for the past two months and was awaiting vigilance clearance.
In a confidential notice, the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions said that it had approved the extension in re-employment of the current chairman for a period of one year until May 2019.
It is believed that his term has been extended again in order to ensure continuity in the CBDT that is seen to be at the forefront of combating black money and ushering in a taxpayer-friendly regime.
Chandra and other officials came under CBI’s scanner after suspicion that they had misreported and undervalued cash transactions that had taken place at showrooms owned by Nirav Modi’s companies.
The officials had allegedly recorded lower amounts of cash transactions while investigating the almost Rs 13,000-crore Punjab National Bank scam in which diamond merchant Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi are accused.
It was also alleged that the officials had failed to pass on details of their investigation to the CBI or the Enforcement Directorate (ED), passing information onto extortionists instead.