CBI Nabs Two CGST Officials in Bribery Scandal

The CBI arrested a Superintendent and an Inspector from the CGST office in Solan, Himachal Pradesh, for accepting a bribe of Rs 8,000 for processing a firm's registration number. Investigations uncovered a wider conspiracy involving threats and demands for higher bribes. Searches revealed incriminating materials.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has apprehended a Superintendent and an Inspector from the Central Goods & Services Tax (CGST) office in Solan, Himachal Pradesh, on charges of demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 8,000 from a complainant. This arrest follows the registration of a case under Section 61(2) of the Bhartiya Nayaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023, in conjunction with Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, as amended in July 2018.

The CBI's investigation began after a complaint was filed, alleging that the accused demanded a bribe of Rs 12,000 through the complainant's friend to process and approve the CGST registration number for his firm. The accused had threatened to reject the registration if the demand was not met. When the complainant visited the CGST office, the bribe amount was reduced to Rs 8,000, and he was instructed to bring the money to their office in Solan. The CBI set up a sting operation, resulting in the Inspector being caught red-handed while accepting the bribe, revealing a criminal conspiracy with the Superintendent.

Subsequent searches of the official and residential premises of the accused in Solan (HP), Mohali (Punjab), and Una District (HP), yielded incriminating documents and articles. Following the searches, both officials were arrested and presented to the Competent Court in Shimla (HP). The individuals arrested have been identified as Akshay Dhiman, Inspector, and George Kumar, Tax Assistant who was later identified as Superintendent, both from the CGST office in Solan, HP.