Central Bureau of Investigation arrested retired Indian Revenue officer and ex- Income Tax Commissioner S K Srivastava for alleged misuse of power in December 2019 after a series of raid conducted in July 2019.
Raids:
In a continuous hunt, CBI raided thirteen related locations including his Noida office and residence. They seized jewellery worth of Rs 2.47 crore, Rs 16.44 lakh cash, watches worth Rs 19 lakh alone from his home. Documents containing properties in Delhi and Noida worth crores of rupees were recovered. An amount of Rs 1.3 crore was also found in his bank account and his family members.
104 backdated orders passed:
CBI claimed that he passed 13 orders beyond Mr Srivastava’s jurisdiction. He allegedly had also sanctioned 104 backdated orders in June after knowing about his forceful retirement.
Srivastava was given compulsory retirement on June 10, 2019. Still, these orders were uploaded on the Income Tax Business Application (ITBA) between June 11 and June 13 by alleged misuse of RSA token, a kind of access system in the department, the agency alleged.
Srivastava came under CBI radar after cases of unlawful falsification, and undue favours were registered against him.
Forceful retirement:
Srivastava was forcibly retired by the Government for his professional misconduct and was also accused of sexual harassment of two women IRS officers of Commissioner rank. His name came in the charge sheet with at least seven allegations.
The Government had compulsorily retired 12 senior Indian Revenue Service (income tax) officers, including one of the rank of the joint commissioner, SK Srivastava in July 2019
CBI had booked him under the Indian Penal Code sections related to criminal conspiracy, cheating, and forgery besides the Prevention of Corruption Act to obtain undue favours.
NDTV case:
Srivastava has been critical of Government and involved in legal proceedings since 2G spectrum cases and alleged NDTV’s hand.
In 2011, the Delhi high court ruled that the Income Tax officer “is not connected with the case in any manner” and that Srivastava had made “unsubstantiated, unwarranted and malicious” claims against NDTV and others. Srivastava was further penalized for his allegations.
Srivastava’s Justification:
In reply to Indian Express, S K Srivastava said “My troubles began in 2006 when I filed the first application against NDTV which has had supporters in every Government. The Government has filed 20 inquiries against me, and this charge sheet is the latest among them. In their desperation, they have tried to retire me, but the fight will go on. There is a 2015 DoPT order which states that an officer facing inquiry cannot be compulsorily retired. That compulsory retirement should be taken as a short cut to avoid Departmental inquiry.”
The Allahabad High Court in November 2020 refused to remove charges in respect of offences of cheating, criminal conspiracy and Corruption against SK Srivastava.
