Lucknow: The Vigilance Establishment caught a deputy commissioner of goods and services tax (GST) red-handed accepting a bribe of Rs 2 lakh for processing a private company’s GST refund on Tuesday.
The accused was identified as Dhanendra Kumar Pandey. He was posted as deputy commissioner (GST) at zone 20 and has been suspended.
Superintendent of police, Vigilance HQ, Lucknow headquarters, Arvind Chaturvedi said that upon investigation, it was found that the company, Ardam Data Services Pvt Ltd, had legitimately claimed a refund of approximately Rs 20 lakh based on GST incurred in their export-related operations. However, Pandey allegedly solicited a bribe to expedite the refund process.
“Since last one week, the owner of the company has been forced to make several rounds of the office to get his legitimate claim. Thereafter, a representative from the company dialled the anti-bribery helpline of Vigilance Establishment and narrated his ordeal, complaining that he was being forced to give a bribe,” said Chaturvedi.
The Vigilance Headquarters set up a trap against the deputy commissioner. The team directed the complainant to stay connected with the accused officer and the date of giving the bribe was fixed as March 19.
“At around 4pm on March 19, Pandey was arrested while accepting a bribe of Rs 2 lakh at the commercial tax office in Hazratganj,” said the officer.
A case has been registered at the Vigilance police station, Lucknow sector, under the charges of prevention of corruption Act.
“In a bid to encourage people to report corruption against govt officials, vigilance establishment launched a dedicated ‘anti-bribery helpline’. The move aims to make the state administration corruption free. The helpline number — 9454401866 — will be available from 10am to 6pm for giving information about corruption and the complainant’s name will be kept confidential,” said the SP vigilance.
He told TOI that the reason behind the anti-bribery helpline is that among different types of complaints against corruption, seeking a bribe hits the poor people badly and such complaints require immediate attention.
“When a person complains of demand for a bribe, it will be noted and forwarded to an SP-rank officer, who will establish further contact with the complainant and initiate action,” said the officer.
The helpline is primarily for the common man who needs guidance and assurance from an officer from the vigilance department on how to deal with bribery demands.
