Right after taking up the job of Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman have asked 12 top tax officers to take up compulsory retirement. The list had some of the big names like Ashok Agarwal – Joint Commissioner of I-T and former Deputy Director of Enforcement Directorate, SK Srivastava – Commissioner (Appeal, Noida) and Homi Rajvansh – an official of the Revenue Service. Ashok Agarwal faced allegations of corruption and extortion. The CBI had accused him of owning assets worth more than 12 crore disproportionate to his income. Homi Rajvansh was a corrupt Revenue Service official and was arrested for acquiring movable and immovable assets worth Rs. 3.17 crore. On the other side, SK Srivastava, a Revenue Service official of the 1989 batch was accused of serious allegations for sexually harassing two women officials. Mr. Srivastava was held in civil imprisonment of 15 days for his false remarks against former chairman and members of the Central Board of Direct Taxes. The remaining nine officials were also under scanner for severe allegations ranging from extortion to bribery and sexual harassment. Of the total 12 officials, eight of them are currently being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation on serious corruption charges. As per reports, this is the first time that a government has taken such a drastic step against top officials accused of corruption and malpractice. All these officers were subjected to forceful retirement under Rule 56 by the Finance Ministry. Many people called this move a part of clean-up drive of the Modi Sarkar 2.0. Original Source - https://fighttojustice.weebly.com/blog/big-move-by-finance-minister-nirmala-sitharaman-12-top-tax-officers-dismissed-from-service

Within a few days of taking charge as the first full-time Finance Minister of India, Nirmala Sitharaman took the ground-breaking administrative step and forced 12 senior income tax officers on the basis of corruption and professional misbehavior. The 56-year-old officer — SK Srivastava who made “unsubstantiated and malicious” allegations against NDTV and Ex-Finance Minister P Chidambaram is among these people who were made to retire.

 

Previously, the 1989-batch IAS officer has been served with a charge sheet comprised of seven charges and an official inquiry was also ordered. The list of charges that filed on May 23, included sexual harassment allegations against 2 women colleagues from the Department of Revenue Service and putting allegations against the top officials of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).

 

As per the reliable sources, he has filed a petition in the court through Jai Narayan Nishad — a former Member of Parliament and claimed that the two women officers were involved in corruption and prostitution. Moreover, he used his official position to pressurize the senior officials to initiate investigation against them as well as to defer the proceedings against him.

 

A couple of years ago, he approached the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) with the request of delaying the promotion of his batchmates as well as his juniors, as a consequence, the promotion of 3 batches has been held up. Along with these allegations, the officer also holds around 75 petitions against him in the Central Administrative Tribunal, the High Court and Supreme Court. Apart from Srivastava, the list also includes Ashok Agarwal, Homi Rajvansh, and BB Rajendra Prasad.

 

Original Source - https://medium.com/@meyermwfactor/the-reason-behind-showing-exit-door-to-sk-srivastava-6ec70cbcc64c