Mumbai News: CBI takes over probe into I-T bribery case

Mumbai: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken over the investigation of a graft case wherein an Income Tax officer had allegedly demanded bribe from a doctor for not taking action on a complaint against him for non filing of income tax returns. The accused was caught red-handed by the Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in December 2020 while accepting a bribe of Rs10 lakh from the complainant.

Bribe of Rs 25 lakh was demanded

According to the CBI, the complainant is a resident of Kolhapur and a homoeopathic doctor. On December 14, 2020, an Income Tax officer contacted and informed the victim that a complaint had been received against him. The accused informed the victim that due to non-filing of Income Tax Returns for the last six years and due to receipt of complaint, he would get a penalty of Rs50 lakh. If the victim wants to avoid a penalty, then he would have to pay Rs25 lakh for not initiating any action on the complaint.

Accused was caught red-handed taking bribe

After negotiations, the amount was reduced to Rs14 lakh. The victim was not interested to pay the bribe, therefore, on December 17, 2020, he approached the ACB, Kolhapur office and informed them about the demand of bribe by the accused. Next day, over a phone call, the income tax officer instructed the victim to meet him. The victim then handed over a bag containing the bribe amount to the accused, who was then caught red-handed by the ACB team. In January 2021, the ACB had written to the Maharashtra government, requesting them to hand over the investigations of the said case to the CBI for detailed investigations. Accordingly, the state government approved the transfer of the case to the CBI. The CBI likely to probe the assets and properties of the accused income tax officer, sources said.