IT Department Slaps Dues of Rs 9 Lac on Team Anna Member Kejriwal
Daijiworld Media Network
New Delhi, Sep 2: The central government, which seems to have suddenly woken up from deep slumber after people like Baba Ramdev and MP, Jaganmohan Reddy revolted against it, strangely appears to have realized that Arvind Kejriwal, hardcore loyalist and follower of Anna Hazare, is due to pay over nine lac rupees. It is learnt that the income tax department served a notice last month on Kejriwal, its former officer, to pay a sum of over nine lac rupees, which it claims is legitimately due to it.
Kejriwal had worked as additional commissioner of income tax. During that period, he had given birth to a non-government organization, ‘Parivartan’ through which he had tried to mitigate the problems of the people by getting their work done at various government offices without having to pay any bribes. He had also won Magsaysay Award for his social service initiatives.
It is learnt that Kejriwal was served the notice about a week before Anna Hazare was to begin his fast unto death demanding implementation of Jan Lokpall bill.
Kejriwal had resigned from his post in 2006. As the income tax department is yet to relieve him from his post, technically he continues to be in the service of that department. Normally, all resignations or voluntary retirement cases have to be handled within three months. It is not known how the department took such a long time to take a clear cut stand on the issue. The department claims that Kejriwal has to pay it the said sum, to enable it to accept his resignation and relieve him from its service, as he had violated certain conditions contained in the bond he had executed in its favour.
Anna team sees red in the initiative, which was undertaken by the department only after Kejriwal’s criticism of the centre became harsher and louder. Former Karnataka Lokayukta, Justice N Santosh Hegde, too supports this view, because of the timing of the notice. He thinks Kejriwal is being targeted because of his unequivocal support of Anna Hazare’s movement.
He also pointed out that the government, which sat on a resignation letter for five long years, seems to have been driven by suspicious motives, in suddenly asking Kejriwal to pay up the above sum within a week. Noting that attempts to muffle voices of revolt have always been made by successive governments, he feels the central government may also try to harass or malign team members of Anna on one pretext or the other.
BJP spokesperson, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, too branded the initiative of the income tax department as an effort to tame Kejriwal. “Apparently, the government is not taking kindly to the battle undertaken by Kejriwal against corruption. In the past too, it had targeted people who had raised voices of dissent against it. The motive of the government is there for everyone to see,” he commented.