Income Tax Commissioner Held By CBI For Taking Rs. 70 Lakh Bribe

On Friday, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested five persons in Hyderabad, among whom one was the Income Tax Commissioner. The CBI accused all of them of engaging in a bribery case worth Rs 70 lakh. CBI arrested these accused right away after the bribe was given to a middleman who was collecting the money for the Commissioner.

Those arrested include Jeevan Lal Lavidiya, Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemptions), Hyderabad. The others are Sairam Palisetty from Srikakulam, Natta Veera Naga Sri Ram Gopal from Visakhapatnam, Viral Kantilal Mehta, who works as Deputy General Manager (Taxation) at Shapoorji Pallonji Group and lives in Chembur, Mumbai, and Sajida Majhar Hussain Shah, also from Chembur. The accused are being presented before the Special CBI Court there. The others, who were arrested in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, are being presented before competent local courts.

On May 9, the CBI filed a case against Commissioner Jeevan Lal Lavidiya and 14 others. Lavidiya is an IRS officer from the 2004 batch and also works as the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals Unit-8 and Unit-7) in Hyderabad. He was involved in corrupt and illegal activities to get unfair benefits by giving illegal help when making decisions on appeals in favor of private individuals.

CBI set up a trap and caught a middleman in Mumbai while he was taking Rs 70 lakh from a private party on behalf of Commissioner Jeevan Lal Lavidiya. After this, Lavidiya and his associates were held in Hyderabad.

CBI conducted searches at 18 locations in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Khammam, Visakhapatnam, and New Delhi. During these searches, they found several important documents and articles along with around Rs 69 lakh in cash. The CBI mentioned that the searches are still ongoing.