Jalandhar/Patiala April 29:
Not convinced by Chief Minister Parksah Singh Badal’s assurance pertaining to a thorough probe into the alleged suicide by an Excise and Taxation Officer recently, the entire staff of the Excise and Taxation Department has decided to proceed on mass leave today.
Alleging that the Vigilance Bureau officials were harassing them unnecessarily, Excise and Taxation Officers Association president Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said the state government had failed in checking the “interference”. About 1,800 employees of the department would be taking casual leave. Notably, ETO Ranjit Singh allegedly committed suicide by consuming celphos tablets at his Phase II residence in Mohali after he was released from jail — arrested by the VB for “accepting bribe” from a trader to release his goods.
Dhaliwal alleged that at the behest of the trader, who had questionable past regarding tax evasion, a few VB officials arrested the ETO in a cooked-up bribery case. “Unable to bear the humiliation, he committed suicide.” Claiming that there were some VB officials who were openly supporting tax evaders and smugglers, he stressed the need to break the alleged nexus between the VB officials and tax evaders, who operate through goods transport companies. “They (VB officials) pressurise us to release the goods of such smugglers and when our officers refuse to obey, they threaten them of implicating them in false cases…. The recent case of Ranjit Singh is a prime example.”
Excise Department officials also demanded that the Vigilance officials involved in the action against the deceased ETO be transferred to prevent them from “influencing” the inquiry. However, they said no change should be made in the two-member inquiry committee, comprising Harpreet Singh Sidhu (IPS) and Mushvi Kumar (IAS), investigating the case. Meanwhile, Excise and Taxation Commissioner Venu Parsad met Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and requested him to stop the alleged Vigilance interference in the functioning of his department and to give justice to the family of the deceased.
Not convinced by Chief Minister Parksah Singh Badal’s assurance pertaining to a thorough probe into the alleged suicide by an Excise and Taxation Officer recently, the entire staff of the Excise and Taxation Department has decided to proceed on mass leave today.
Alleging that the Vigilance Bureau officials were harassing them unnecessarily, Excise and Taxation Officers Association president Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said the state government had failed in checking the “interference”. About 1,800 employees of the department would be taking casual leave. Notably, ETO Ranjit Singh allegedly committed suicide by consuming celphos tablets at his Phase II residence in Mohali after he was released from jail — arrested by the VB for “accepting bribe” from a trader to release his goods.
Dhaliwal alleged that at the behest of the trader, who had questionable past regarding tax evasion, a few VB officials arrested the ETO in a cooked-up bribery case. “Unable to bear the humiliation, he committed suicide.” Claiming that there were some VB officials who were openly supporting tax evaders and smugglers, he stressed the need to break the alleged nexus between the VB officials and tax evaders, who operate through goods transport companies. “They (VB officials) pressurise us to release the goods of such smugglers and when our officers refuse to obey, they threaten them of implicating them in false cases…. The recent case of Ranjit Singh is a prime example.”
Excise Department officials also demanded that the Vigilance officials involved in the action against the deceased ETO be transferred to prevent them from “influencing” the inquiry. However, they said no change should be made in the two-member inquiry committee, comprising Harpreet Singh Sidhu (IPS) and Mushvi Kumar (IAS), investigating the case. Meanwhile, Excise and Taxation Commissioner Venu Parsad met Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and requested him to stop the alleged Vigilance interference in the functioning of his department and to give justice to the family of the deceased.
