CBI arrests Mumbai Income Tax joint commissioner for Rs.5 lakh bribery

A joint commissioner posted with Income Tax department in Mumbai was on Friday arrested for allegedly accepting Rs.5 lakh in a bribe from the owner of a construction firm to settle the tax assessment of his firm, the CBI said.

The Central Bureau of Investigation arrested S.K. Jhangre from his Mumbai office, a CBI official said.

The probe agency registered a case on a complaint that Jhangre threatened to re-open the firm’s Income Tax assessment files.

“The joint commissioner also threatened the CA (chartered accountant) of the complainant, and said he (the firm’s owner) should come and meet him for settling the Income Tax matter,” said a CBI official.

The official said the joint commissioner allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs.30 lakh to settle the matter.

“The bribe amount was negotiated to Rs.25 lakh and the accused agreed to accept Rs.5 lakh as first instalment at his office premises in Piramal Chambers in Mumbai,” the CBI official said.

The official said the joint commissioner was held while accepting the bribe of Rs.5 lakh from the complainant.

The agency conducted searches at the residential and office premises of the joint commissioner and recovered some incriminating documents along with gold jewellery and gold coins weighing 1.5 kg.