Special CBI Court Acquits 2 In Service Tax Evasion Case, Slams Probe Quality

Mumbai: The special CBI court recently acquitted Rangnath Laxman Nayak, a former superintendent in the Service Tax department, and businessman Ulhas Shrikrishna Sahasrabuddhe in a corruption case involving alleged service tax evasion.

About The Case

While acquitting the two, the court slammed the investigating officer for not producing adequate evidence. As per the case filed with the CBI in July 2015, Sahasrabuddhe was the proprietor of an eponymous firm dealing in intelligent light systems. Nayak abused his position as a public servant and advised the businessman to prepare two sets of invoices (with and without the tax component) to underreport his tax liability. To facilitate this evasion, he took a bribe of Rs 10 lakh.

The court observed that there was no recovery of any amount or any invoices. It also found no evidence of the demand and acceptance of the bribe amount. Noting that the investigation was not up to the mark, the court said the prosecution relied upon the quantity of witnesses and not quality.

The court said, “It appears that the investigating officer followed a pick-and-choose policy, and presented whatever material was collected. No steps were taken to collect incriminating material for reasons best known to the investigating officer and the CBI,” special judge SH Gwalani said, adding that even call data records of Sahasrabuddhe were not placed on record.