Top two officers relieved of Excise & Taxation charge in Chandigarh
Chandigarh, April 8
Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, two senior officers of the Excise Department have been relieved of their charge.
According to the order issued by UT Adviser Rajeev Verma, Dr Vijay Namdeorao Zade, Secretary, Finance, has been relieved of the charge of Secretary, Excise and Taxation. The same has been assigned to Ajay Chagti, Secretary, Personnel and Establishment, in addition to his duties.
Also, Deputy Commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh has been relieved of the post of Commissioner of Excise and Taxation, and the charge has been given to Rupesh Kumar Aggarwal, who is the Secretary, Estate Office, in addition to his duties. In August last year, Rupesh Aggarwal, a 2019 batch AGMUT cadre officer, was assigned the charge of Additional Excise and Taxation Commissioner-cum-Collector (Excise), but was relieved of the charge on January 24. Now, he has been given the charge of Commissioner, Excise and Taxation.
The transfer order has been issued with the concurrence conveyed by the Election Commission of India vide letter dated April 5, stated the order.
Zade, who is Chief Electoral Officer, said he had requested the Election Commission of India that he may be relieved of the charge of Secretary Excise and Taxation during the period when model code of conduct is applicable so that he could focus on conducting the elections. DEO Vinay Pratap Singh said after the implementation of the model code of conduct, they had requested the Election Commission of India to relieve them of the charge of Excise during the time when MCC was in force.
Sources attributed the transfer to the recent action taken by the Excise Department against bottling plants.
Refuting the allegations, the DC said it took nearly 10 days to get approval from the ECI, and it had nothing to do with action being taken against excise licensees who were found indulging in illegal inter-state smuggling of liquor and also evading Excise Duty and violating Excise laws.
Initiating strict action against the violators, the Excise Department had cancelled the licence of six bottling plants in the recent past.
Aggarwal given key post
Charge of Commissioner, Excise and Taxation, has now been given to Rupesh Kumar Aggarwal, who is the Secretary, Estate Office, in addition to his duties. In August last year, Rupesh was assigned the charge of Additional Excise and Taxation Commissioner-cum-Collector (Excise), but was relieved of the charge on January 24.
