Excelsior report exposed corrupt practices in Feb 2023
Bivek Mathur
JAMMU, July 2: The J&K Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has registered a case against Manju Sharma, a former Junior Assistant, and other officials of the Motor Vehicle Department (MVD), for alleged irregularities in the collection and deposition of passenger tax.
According to an ACB official, the case, FIR number 09/2024 of Police Station ACB Jammu, was filed under Section 13(1) (a) read with 13(2) PC Act, 1988, and Sections 120-B and 409 of the IPC, on the basis of an investigation, initiated by a communication from the General Administration Department dated March 6, 2023.
As evident from the statement, the communication was issued by the GAD to the investigating agency to probe the irregularities on March 6, 2023 i.e. 16 days after the Excelsior, in its February 18, 2023 report titled, “Who’s shielding the Govt official who caused ‘crores’ losses’ to State exchequer?” highlighted in detail about the irregularities, amounting to crores, committed by the RTO office staff in connivance with the vehicle owners while collecting and depositing the passenger tax in offline mode.
The ACB investigation revealed that Manju Sharma, assigned to the Accounts Section of the Regional Transport Office (RTO) Jammu, dishonestly collected passenger tax from commercial vehicle owners. Instead of recording the full amount, she only noted a meagre part of the tax in the official records, thus misappropriating the rest.
Click here to connect with us on WhatsApp
As per an ACB official, the improperly maintained manual cash book and vehicle-wise details facilitated this embezzlement, with more than Rs 10 lakhs misappropriated as per initial cross-checks of Government Receipts (GRs) and owners’ copies.
“The total amount could rise as further verification continues,” he said.
Pertinently, in its report dated February 18, 2023, Excelsior had highlighted in detail about issuance of manipulated GRs and Passenger Tax Passbooks by Manju Sharma, in connivance with other officials, at the RTO Office in Jammu, spanning from April 1, 2018, to June 30, 2022.
During this period, the Excelsior reported that the motor vehicle owners allegedly paid passenger taxes offline, facilitated by cashiers using fraudulent documents, causing crores of losses to the State exchequer.
The matter came to light when discrepancies were flagged by the former RTO Jammu, Ghansham Singh, during an update to online receipts starting April 1, 2022.
According to correspondence from the then RTO Jammu, Ghansham Singh, who had even brought the matter to the notice of senior authorities, including then Transport Commissioner, Jammu and Kashmir, substantial irregularities were uncovered, suggesting potential losses worth crores to the State exchequer.
Singh highlighted a significant increase in tax receipts in 2023 compared to previous years, raising suspicions of long-standing malpractice.
The Excelsior had also highlighted about how then RTO Jammu took timely action in the matter and even tried to make the tax collection system better by preventing future losses by launching several rectification measures including, increasing the enforcement drives and updation of the tax collection system to the online system.
The Excelsior had also posed critical questions about the lack of a comprehensive investigation to then Transport Commissioner but the officer preferred silence over the entire matter.
Substantiating the Excelsior report, the ACB official today stated that the agency (ACB) suspects the involvement of other RTO Jammu officials as well in abetting this misappropriation.
The agency also clarified that Manju Sharma, along with other employees, conspired to fraudulently misappropriate substantial amounts of passenger tax collected during the period in question.
The investigation is ongoing to uncover the full extent of the misappropriated funds and the roles of other officials involved, added the ACB official.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
