The CBI has arrested a Superintendent and an Inspector, both from the Central Goods & Services Tax (CGST) office in Solan, Himachal Pradesh, in a case involving the demand and acceptance of a bribe of Rs. 8,000 from a complainant.
A case was registered by the CBI under Section 61(2) of the Bhartiya Nayaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023, read with Section 7 of The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in July 2018), against the Inspector and a Tax Assistant (later identified as a Superintendent), both of the CGST Solan office, H.P., based on a complaint.
It was alleged that the accused demanded a bribe of Rs. 12,000 from the complainant through the complainant’s friend for processing and approving the CGST registration number of his firm. The accused instructed the complainant to visit their office for this purpose, threatening that his CGST registration would be rejected otherwise. During the complainant’s visit to the CGST office, the accused reduced the bribe amount to Rs. 8,000 and instructed the complainant to bring the bribe to their office in Solan.
The CBI laid a trap, catching the Inspector red-handed while accepting the bribe of Rs. 8,000 from the complainant, in criminal conspiracy with another accused whose correct identity was later revealed to be a Superintendent.
Searches were conducted at the official and residential premises of the accused in Solan (HP), Mohali (Punjab), and Una District (HP), resulting in the recovery of some incriminating documents and articles.
Both accused were arrested and produced before the Competent Court in Shimla (HP). The investigation is ongoing.
