An inspector from the State Sales Tax Department in Nagpur and his accomplice got accused of attempting to extort a sum of Rupees 15 lakhs from a Judge of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Tribunal.
The incident has led to the registration of a criminal case against the alleged extortionists, identified as Rajkumar Diwase, a State Sales Tax Inspector, and his accomplice Prakash Gaikwad. Ramesh Bhagu Zaid, the GST Tribunal Judge, got targeted by the sales tax officer, who allegedly resorted to threats and extortion attempts.
The GST Tribunal Judge reportedly received a series of ominous messages from the accused sales tax inspector in recent days. These messages contained explicit threats, including the promise to expose the judge with the assistance of a Right to Information (RTI) activist.
Subsequently, the complainant discovered that the two accused were collaborating with each other in the extortion bid for extorting the Judge. After receiving the extortion threats, the Judge approached the police authorities and filed a police complaint. On Sunday, Diwase and his accomplice, Prakash Gaikwad, were apprehended. They have been charged with extortion and other applicable Indian Penal Code violations.
The GST Tribunal Judge was earlier a Joint Commissioner in the State Sales Tax Department and Diwase had approached him to stall a transfer order issued to him in November last year. When the complainant did not endorse the request, the accused started asking him for financial assistance last month, adding that he also received extortion calls from Gaikwad during this period.
Concerns have been expressed concerning the safety of Indian judges as a result of the occurrence. It also serves as a warning that tighter regulations are needed to safeguard public officials from corruption and extortion as the number of these cases are increasing day by day.
Support our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates
