The Punjab Vigilance Bureau has been granted permission to conduct trials in separate cases registered against officials from the GST department over bribery allegations. Notably, the Bureau had sought approval for conducting trials involving several nominated officials in FIRs 8 and 9 filed in 2020, related to officers from the AETC, ETO, a private individual, and another case from Mandi Gobindgarh at the Chief Secretary level.
According to departmental sources, previously, the Bureau had been sending repeated written communications to officials. It is believed that after obtaining approval, supplementary chargesheets may also be filed in these cases. This action by the Bureau might have an impact on several officials’ positions, as all the nominated officers in FIRs 8 and 9 are currently out on bail and hold significant positions. Meanwhile, in the cases filed in 2017, nominated officers had obtained court permission from the Punjab and Haryana High Court and had gone abroad for which they were given a limited 45-day period.
According to official sources, actions on these cases will commence soon, and proceedings will be initiated in the courts. Around 36 suspects were named in these cases. After obtaining bail from the Punjab and Haryana High Court, most of the accused were released from jail. However, during the ongoing case, there was a strike by the Association of these officials within the department. The allegation in this case was that some officials had swindled the government of millions through collusions with transporters and certain passers. Some officials from the purported Passer Department were embezzling millions in taxes by paying them a monthly amount. The department had nominated two chief passers from Ambala in relation to this matter.
Some ETOs, STOs, and a private youth were also named In cases filed in 2017, someone had filed a complaint against the department, alleging that the mentioned officials were swindling the department through corrupt practices. The complaint was made by certain passers working in Jalandhar at the time, and later, the department confiscated recordings and documents during the investigation.