CBI books Two Income Tax Officers Over alleged Bribe Demands; Separate Investigations initiated against both

The CBI has opened investigations into two Income Tax officers in two separate cases of alleged corruption. In the first case, an Income Tax officer from New Delhi allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 5 lakh from an Andheri resident to demand a Rs 1 crore demand notice.

In the second case, another Income Tax officer from Jalgaon allegedly asked a bribe from a doctor to cancel a fresh PAN card. The complainant, who manages a hospital, had lost her PAN Card and applied for a new one in 2018, which made it impossible to pay income tax. As a result, she went to the Income Tax portal and submitted an online application to cancel the freshly issued card.

In the first case, on March 4, the CBI got a complaint from an Andheri resident whose father (a high-tax payer) had received the notice on January 21 for 2019-20 and 2020-21. The man received a WhatsApp call from someone portraying himself as Sanjay Kumar from the New Delhi Income Tax office, pointing to that a demand notice for Rs.1 crore will be issued. He then asked the officer to speak with her daughter. Kumar demanded Rs.5 lakh from the complainant and stated that his supervisors want the case closed by February 28, citing March as the deadline.

Kumar connected with the two over WhatsApp from February 5 to 24, and he requested to reduce the amount. He asked for time to consult with his superiors before negotiating it down to Rs.2 lakh. The money was sought either through a hawala route or in person at his Delhi office.

While in the second case, a doctor submitted a written complaint dated March 11. The doctor and her colleague met Rakesh Ranjan, an Income Tax officer in Jalgaon, and submitted the necessary documentation as instructed. Despite numerous follow-ups, the newly issued PAN Card was not revoked. On March 10, Ranjan demanded Rs.10,000 and negotiated it down to Rs.5,000 in exchange for delivery to an office peon.