CUTTACK: Disposing of a petition filed over seven years ago, Orissa High Court has asked the petitioner to take his plea to the CBI for appropriate action. The petition had been filed in 2012 by the then Additional Commissioner of Income Tax SK Srivastava seeking CBI probe into alleged massive tax evasion by a former Director-General of Income Tax (Vigilance) for 2004-2006.
The tax evasion in crores related to a huge amount of ‘illegal gratification’ allegedly received ‘for facilitating the theft of public money and public revenue’, the petition had alleged. Srivastava had filed an interim application ‘for early hearing’ of the petition on August 12 this year. In the application, Srivastava had alleged that he was being victimised by the Income Tax Department by way of giving premature compulsory retirement from service, evicting him from quarters and fixing penal rent of `1.09 crore and three departmental charge sheets from April this year.
In the August 16 order, the division bench of Chief Justice KS Jhaveri and Justice KR Mohapatra said: “The allegations which are made in this writ petition are of serious nature. It has been reported by the petitioner that because of the proceeding he has been compulsorily retired and thrown out of his residential quarter.”
The order asked the petitioner to approach CBI within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of the order and CBI will look into the matter and take appropriate action against the erring officer.