No G-8 receipt sans govt seal

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, January 20

MC Commissioner Sonali Giri has ordered the authorities concerned not to issue G-8 property tax receipts without government seal and signatures of clerks or inspectors. The step has been taken after a Class IV employee was nabbed by the police for issuing fake receipts.

The decision was taken by the authorities after noticing various anomalies in the issuance of G-8 receipt by the MC personnel. In a recently exposed scam, a Class IV employee of the property tax wing had allegedly issued a fake receipt worth Rs 28,850 to a property owner in 2014. He had deposited Rs 50 on the original receipt. The employee is accused of amending the amount on the owners receipt.

With the help of a beldar of the MC’s building branch, he also arranged an NOC for the property owner. When the owner applied for the registration of property at the Tehsildar office, he was nabbed for preparing fake documents. During the police inquiry, the involvement of MC employees came to the fore.

Saurab Arora, Joint Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation, has been conducting a departmental inquiry into the case. The officials are suspecting that without any check on the issuance G-8 receipt in the past, there is possibility that some other employees might also be involved in the malpractice.