An Inquiry Committee headed by Principal Secretary (Home) Archna Arora on Rs 70 crore gold theft case from the Delhi Government’s Sales Tax Department has blamed the senior officials for criminal lapses that resulted in the theft of gold worth Rs 70 crore in May last.
The report by Archna Arora, the Principal Secretary (Home) has punched gaping holes in the claims of the senior officials of the Trade and Taxes Department who deliberately kept the gold that was seized in the office premises for more than one week and after that it was kept in conference hall without any security. The report has also questioned the conduct of VAT officials who were allegedly running a cartel.
What is galling is the fact that the senior officials neither informed Prashant Goyal, the then Trade and Taxes Commissioner, nor got the seized gold valued. It had posed serious doubts on the conduct of officials, including Special Commissioner Ashish Mohan. The report has been sent to the Vigilance Department for further departmental action against the delinquent officials.
The then Chief Secretary SK Srivastava had ordered an enquiry by the Home Secretary to go into the details of the gold controversy that had sullied the image of the city Government. The inquiry report has found that the officials did not prepare an inventory. They also deliberately did not mention the total seizure whether the gold was in the form of bars or biscuits. They also did not follow the basic procedure and even they did not put the seized gold in a secured vault. The report also held that Commissioner Prashant Goyal was guilty of procedural lapses and supervisory control. Arora has levelled serious allegations against the Special Commissioner Ashish Mohan and has held him responsible for the misappropriation of the gold. Mohan was placed under suspension along with six senior officials namely;
Asheesh Mohan, former Joint Commissioner of Sales Tax Department currently posted with Delhi State Subordinate Service Commission, Hom Karan (VAT officer), Ravinder Singh (VAT inspector), Praveen Kumar (VAT inspector), Pankaj Kumar (VAT inspector) and DANICS officer Joginder Singh.
The Chief Secretary has ordered a probe into the circumstances leading to detection and seizure of precious articles by the enforcement team of the Department of Trade and Taxes and whether procedures were adhered to by the enforcement team while confiscating the goods. The CS has asked to unravel the “circumstances and arrangement for storage of seized materials from March 1 till date” and if adequate security arrangement was made to guard the stored material and shortcomings in the arrangement.
A peon who was also found involved had committed suicide during the inquiry. The Government is now mulling further penal action against the accused officials. It still remains a mystery as to who owned the seized gold.