ETO suspended over GST scam

Mukesh Tandon

Tribune News Service

Panipat, February 9

Excise and Taxation Officer (ETO) Divik Sharma has been suspended on the charge of issuing Form-C to Panipat-based Paras Enterprises and 42 non-existent firms which falsely claimed tax refund of Rs 30.6 crore. The ETO was posted in Panipat at the time of registration of these fake firms.

According to sources, the department had unearthed a refund scam of Rs 100 crore last year during scrutiny of transactions of Vipin Enterprises, a Gurugram-based firm. During investigation, the authorities found that Panipat-based Paras Enterprises had committed a fraud through bogus business with Vipin Enterprises.

It was also revealed during investigation that 42 firms had been registered on the basis of the same PAN. Paras Enterprises proprietor Tarun Kumar was yet to be traced.

The purported mobile phone number of the proprietor actually belonged to someone else. Investigation revealed that 41 firms had given the same number as the contact number of their proprietors, the sources said.

The authorities suspected the role of two departmental officials for issuing Form-C to Paras Enterprises and other non-existing firms, the sources added.

Two ETOs — Divik and Sidhartha Kohli — who were posted at Panipat, had been sent to the headquarters in November last year.

Additional Chief Secretary, Excise and Taxation, Sanjeev Kaushal, ordered Divik’s suspension on Friday on the basis of the inquiry report. During suspension, he would be stationed in Panchkula.