Two-day stay in Matheran lands I-T official in CBI net

An Income tax inspector who was under the scanner for accepting bribes finally landed in CBI net after they found that a shipping company paid for his and family’s two-day stay in Matheran.

The CBI has registered a corruption case against inspector Subodh Roy, attached to the International Taxation department for accepting bribers for shipping companies in return for issuing 100% DIT Relief Certificates, a requirement to get relaxation in TDS payment.

Although the inspector attempted to avoid direct detection by employing various methods to receive bribers, the CBI discovered that a shipping company’s representative paid Rs. 25,000 for a two-day stay in Matheran for the inspector and his family in May last year.

The CBI filed a corruption case involving Rs. 25,000 (hotel accommodation expenses) against inspect Subodh Roy, Cosco Shipping Lines (India) Pvt Ltd, and its staff member Shuaib Khan for criminal conspiracy, bribery and abetment. On Wednesday, the agency conducted searches at their locations, along with three additional premises connected to the case.

The CBI’s FIR stated, “Subodh Roy, inspector Income tax, had official dealings with Cosco Shipping Lines (India) Pvt Ltd, Mumbai, as he processed the documents submitted by Khan for issuance of 100% DIT Relief Certificate in favour of New Golden Sea Shipping Pte Ltd, a Singapore based holding company of Cosco Shipping Lines (India) Pvt. Ltd.” The FIR said that the CBI learnt from sources that Roy, frequently accepted undue advantage from Shuaib Khan as a reward for processing the documents submitted by him for 100% DIT Relief Certificate.”

Last year, the CBI received information from reliable sources about Roy’s questionable activities during his posting at International Taxation Circle and he was under their scanner. The agency sought authorisation from his department to investigate him. Subsequently, Roy was transferred to another branch, and thereafter the CBI received approval from the Income tax department, enabling them to register the case on Tuesday.

Source: The Times of India