GST officer accepts ₹4,000 bribe, caught red-handed

A 53-year-old Goods and Services Tax (GST) officer was arrested by the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) for allegedly accepting a bribe of ₹4,000 on Thursday.

According to the ACB, the accused officer, Madhuri Chavan, was caught red-handed accepting the bribe for clearing one of the files of the complainant.

The complainant in the case is a GST practitioner. Some clients approached him as they were allegedly warned by Chavan that their GST registration would be cancelled as they had failed to file their monthly GST returns.

Registration is mandatory for all dealers or entities having a turnover above a specified threshold. GST registration enables goods and service providers to collect GST from their customers. “When the complainant met Chavan on November 4, she demanded a bribe of ₹15,000 to not cancel their GST registrations,” read an ACB statement.

The complainant, who did not wish to pay the bribe, approached the ACB office on Wednesday. A trap was laid in this regard in which Chavan was caught red-handed.

“As the accused was a woman and cannot be arrested after sunset, she was asked to come on Friday. We took her to an ACB court that remanded her in judicial custody,” said an ACB officer. She has been charged under section 7 (public servant taking gratification) of the Prevention of Corruption Act of 1988.