Not just Manish Sisodia’s OSD, more officers in Delhi GST dept under CBI scanner
India

Not just Manish Sisodia’s OSD, more officers in Delhi GST dept under CBI scanner

Manish Sisodia’s OSD, Gopal Krishna Madhav was arrested Thursday night for allegedly accepting bribes to waive GST duty of transporters. 

   
A file photo of the CBI headquarters in New Delhi. | Manisha Mondal/ThePrint

Representational image | File photo of the CBI headquarters in New Delhi. | Manisha Mondal | ThePrint

New Delhi: The arrest of Gopal Krishna Madhav, the officer on special duty (OSD) with Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, is just the tip of the iceberg, believes the CBI as it probes a Good and Services Tax (GST) racket. 

Madhav, a Goods and Services Tax Officer in the Trade and Taxes Department of the Delhi government, was arrested late Thursday for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 2 lakh.

According to a source in the CBI, Madhav was allegedly taking money from transporters to “waive off their GST”.   

He charged money for waiving off the Goods and Services Tax from transporters who approached him,” the source said. “The dealings were done sometimes through net banking and sometimes in cash.”

The officer has been charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Madhav has been posted in Sisodia’s office since 2015 but the source said the agency has not found Sisodia’s involvement in the case so far.

According to the source, the CBI was led to Madhav by middleman Dheeraj Gupta, who allegedly acted as a conduit for the Delhi government official.

Dheeraj Gupta was arrested by the CBI on 5 February and is in judicial custody. 


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More officials under scanner

The CBI is now looking at the role of other Delhi Government officials in the GST department, the source quoted above said. 

The premier investigating agency Friday conducted searches at the premises of the AGMUT cadre IAS officer Udit Prakash Rai in connection with the corruption case involving Madhav.  

“The middle-man has alleged that he took money on behalf of Delhi government officials posted across the GST department. We are trying to verify his claims,” the source said.

He added that there is a possibility of the involvement of more than one official. “As of now, we have arrested Madhav but there is a possibility that more officers may be indulging in corrupt practices in the department,” the source said. “We will get more clarity on this once we question Deepak Gupta.”

Sisodia demands ‘strict actions against official’

Reacting to the arrest, Sisodia demanded the strictest possible action be taken against the official. 

I got to know that an officer who is posted at GST and has been an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) with me for five years has been arrested for taking a bribe of Rs 2 lakhs,” he said. “What the CBI did is right. The strictest action should be taken to set an example. I have no issues with the timing of the arrest. We have zero tolerance for corruption.” 

A source in the Aam Aadmi Party, however, said the party was “intrigued by the timing of the arrest”.

“I won’t be amused if more such matters come up in these 24 hours until voting takes place. Everyone wants to try their best to shame AAP,” said a senior AAP leader, adding that the party continues to have a strict attitude towards any corrupt activity.


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