The government has ordered compulsory retirement of 21 income tax officers in the fifth tranche of its crackdown on officials accused of corruption and other malpractices.

Government sources said these officers have been removed on charges of misuse of official position to seek and receive bribes, with many even being caught by the the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The officers—all from the I-T Service, Group 'B’—held the rank of Income Tax Officer. They have been forced to retire under Fundamental Rule 56(j), which provides for compulsory retirement of government officials in public interest.

A total of 85 officers have been removed from service since June this year when the government ordered a crackdown on corrupt and errant officials. Of these, 64 were high ranking officials and 12 of them were from the income tax department.

The government had last removed 15 officials of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) on charges of corruption, bribery and criminal conspiracy.

Sources said the officers who have been removed in the latest announcement were found to have sought or received bribes ranging from Rs 20,000 to Rs 65 lakh. Some officers were found to have amassed large amounts of unaccounted wealth.

The move was in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day address at the Red Fort this year, where he said the “black sheep” in the tax administration who may have misused their power by harassing honest taxpayers or taking excessive action for minor procedural violations will be removed.

“We have taken the bold step of compulsorily retiring a significant number of tax officials, and we will not tolerate this type of behaviour,” the PM had said.

The officials who have been removed were posted in offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Thane, Jodhpur, Vishakhapatnam, Rajkot, Bikaner, Hazaribag, Ujjain, Sawai Madhopur and Bhopal. #casansaar (Source - ET Bureau, Economic Times)