ICAI members lock central GST office in Gurugram over arrest of 2 CAs

The Central GST office here was locked for several hours by chartered accountants on Thursday night as a protest against the arrest of two fellow CAs over an alleged Rs 15-crore GST refund scam. On Friday, the police said the protest by the CAs is still continuing but the GST office has been allowed to function.

Members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Gurugram chapter, said they had locked the office for several hours to protest the arrest of the two CAs over the alleged Goods and Services Tax refund scam. Terming the arrest ''completely wrong,'' ICAI members said the refund was issued with the connivance of the officials. The protestors claimed that rather than punishing the chartered accountants, action should have been taken against the benefitting party -- a trader and lapsing GST official, they said.

According to police, a few days back, some men had faked up a business and filed a refund of Rs 15 crores of GST. The two arrested accountants allegedly attested their documents and aided in all official work which helped in the release of the refund, police had said. After verification of chartered accountant, officers too do their own scrutiny before releasing the refund. So, why was refund issued without investigation in this case? And now they are blaming the CAs, the members asked.

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