CBI nabs I-T commissioner, 4 others in H’bad bribery case
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday arrested five persons, including a Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemptions), Hyderabad, Jeevan Lal Lavidiya, for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 70 lakh to decide an appeal in favour of a private party.
Apart from Lavidiya, four other persons were arrested, including Viral Kantilal Mehta, DGM (Taxation) of Shapoorji Pallonji Group, according to a statement issued by the CBI.
The central investigation agency had registered a case on May 9 against Jeevan Lal and 14 other persons and entities.
It was alleged that Jeevan Lal, who is also holding the additional charge of Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals Unit-8) and (Appeals Unit-7), at the office of the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Hyderabad, in connivance with middlemen was indulging in corrupt and illegal activities of obtaining undue gratification for extending illegal favours in deciding appeals in favour of private parties, whose appeals were pending with him for decision, the statement said.
The CBI subsequently laid a trap and caught an accused middleman, while accepting a bribe of Rs 70 lakh from a private party in Mumbai, allegedly on behalf of Jeevan Lal.
Consequently, the I-T Commissioner and his associates were arrested from Hyderabad. The CBI conducted searches at 18 locations in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Khammam, Visakhapatnam and New Delhi that have led to recovery of various incriminating documents and articles, including Rs 69 lakh in cash, besides the bribe amount of Rs 70 lakh, the statement added. The searches are still underway.
The accused arrested in Mumbai are being produced before the court of a special judge (CBI cases) in Mumbai, while the accused arrested in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are being produced before the competent court in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
