Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Jalandhar, transferred within a week of posting

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 16

Wednesday’s transfer orders of Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Jalandhar, Shalin Walia, that, too, within a week of his joining has exposed how the mafia still prevails upon the system.

Walia had joined the post on December 7 and got transferred within eight days. During his short stint in the Jalandhar division which has seven districts of Doaba and Majha area falling under it, he got conducted major raids which led to the recovery of a huge stock of 4.5 lakh lahan for manufacturing of illicit liquor. There are reports that the illicit liquor, which was being manufactured in the mand areas of Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, Ludhiana and Harike along the banks of the river bodies on very large scale, was to be used in the forthcoming election time.

Further on December 9 just two days of his joining, he even got checked various liquor vends and got confiscated 131 cases of expired beer and 873 cases of IMFL and PML liquor of year 2019-20 from a group in Kala Bakra. The vend was challaned. On the same day, he also got challaned six vends of Goraya circle for keeping old stock. The vends reportedly belonged to Jasdeep Chadha and Doda group.

The department insiders said his bold action shook the entire mafia which approached the concerned authorities and put pressure for his immediate transfer, which the government ordered. Yesterday, he got transferred to the taxation wing of the department that too in Ferozepur.

The officials supporting him have said the orders had come as a big humiliation and had affected the morale of the entire department. The officials also pointed to that had the official not acted, a hooch tragedy as had occurred in April 2020 was waiting to happen. “Beer has a shelf life of just six months. Stocks of expired liquor are being openly thrown for weddings and big parties. As per the rule, the stock of the previous year can be used after paying excise duty afresh but it has to be sold off within six months. The stock that was unearthed dated back to year 2019-20”, said the insiders.

Rajat Aggarwal, Commissioner, Excise, “My idea is that all officials should do good work but transfers do not fall in my domain”. Notably, Punjab CM Charanjit S Channi holds the charge of the minister of the revenue-fetching department.

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