TAXES ARE DROPPED...INDIVIDUALS ARE ENRICHED

For our development we have taken loan from the World Bank. It is not new. Recently World Bank has committed to provide Rs. 5,000 Crores for a water conservation project for the drought affected villages of Vidarbha and Marathwada. We feel ashamed that under different pretexts, sometimes in the name of education, poverty alleviation, mal-nutrition, infrastructure, etc., we have been taking maximum number of loans from the World Bank. The amounts are in thousands of crores. Now the collections of Service Tax is increasing every year. But we seem to be less concerned about the leakage and pilferage.

CESA-Mumbai in our earlier articles have brought out instances of judicial inconsistency and/or judicial indiscipline.

Another issue is as under :-

On the basis of intelligence, the Anti-Evasion wing of the erstwhile Mumbai Service Tax-II Commissionerate, booked a case of service tax evasion against M/s. Supreme Infrastructure India Ltd., wherein it was noticed that the assessee was collecting service tax from their customers but were not depositing the same to the Govt. account since July 2008. After investigations, a Show Cause Notice of Rs. 350.84 Crores for the period 2008-09 to 2012-13 was issued to the company bearing F No.V/ST-II/HQ/AE/ENQ/Gr 6/11/2013 dated 22.10.2013. The same was issued by Shri R Sekar the then Commissioner, Service Tax-II, Mumbai.

The matter was taken up for adjudication on priority basis, violating the normal FIFO method. The matter was adjudicated vide OIO No 40/ST-II/RS/2014 on 23.05.2014, i.e. within 7 months from date of issuance of SCN, by the same Shri R Sekar, while many other SCNs were pending for years together. Vide his said Order in Original Shri Sekar confirmed only Rs. 36.93 Crores of Service tax and disallowed cenvat credit of Rs. 9.13 Crores ( totally amounting to Rs. 46.06 Crores, i.e. 13.13% of the Demand raised by him only in the said SCN). Shri R Sekar, who issued the SCN demanding Rs. 350.84 Crores of service tax after detailed investigations, but at the time of adjudication within 7 months, decided and amazingly dropped the demand of almost Rs.300 Crores of service tax.

At the time of issuance of the SCN, he has not only transferred the concerned Superintendents several times but also moved the file through those officers who were willing to toe his line. During the relevant time a middleman was constantly visible in the 4^th Floor having a “Nawabi” access to the cabin of Shri Sekar. After the disposal of the case and dropping of the amount of Rs. 300 Crores, the said linkman vanished into thin air.

As the linkman went missing, the second SCN of the same Noticee bearing No. ST-II/Div-VI/SCN/AE/Supreme Infra/2013 dtd 22.11.2014 amounting to Rs. 74.94 Crores issued by Shri R Sekar is still pending for adjudication.

When the entire country has been facing severe drought conditions, and approaching the World Bank for loans, we have officers who are oblivious of this and are only interested in their own interests and making the exchequer dry & dry...

After receiving numerous complaints against Sri Sekar, the CVC did not find him fit for being posted as Member(T), but found him fit to be has posted him as AR in Mumbai CESTAT, where he is supposed to defend the appeals filed by the Department which were originally dropped by him !!

Isn’t there anyone in the Dept. who is upright enough to rein in and check such type of greedy officers ? At the fag end of his career, the Board also seems to be in generous mood to offer him a peaceful retirement, but at what cost ? Many of the Commissionerates in India may have Rs.300 Crores as their annual target, but in one go, the said amount is dropped and nobody in the Board bats an eyelid…

The slogan ‘When taxes are paid, the nation is made’ but in the instant case, the slogan appears to be more like ‘individuals are enriched when taxes are dropped’ and when nobody reins them in, they are emboldened further and further…

CESA-Mumbai does not intend to comment upon the legality and/or on the merits of the case. But the acts of commission, like transferring the investigating officers, not picking up of SCN in FIFO method, free access and visibility of linkman and consequently dropping of a huge amount of Service Tax by one and the same Authority really arouses suspicion.

The junior officers during his tenure were badly harassed by him for supposedly not working in the interests of revenue but it appears that they were actually harassed & victimised for being an hindrance to his vested interests. 

This case adds to the general perception that in the case of senior officers, no action is taken against them because it is processed through them and decided by them. Unless a whistle blower is bent upon pursuing a case, it appears that in all other cases, the erring officer gets away scot free.

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