Top tax official who made sensational allegations against CBDT chairman gets promoted

A top tax official, who reportedly made unprecedented attack on CBDT Chairman alleging victimisation, has been promoted to the apex grade equivalent to Special Secretary, according to an official order.

Alka Tyagi, Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (Unit 2) in Mumbai, had reportedly written to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, making serious allegations against CBDT Chairman Pramod Chandra Mody, saying a previously disposed of vigilance case against her was now being used by him as a "weapon of blackmail" to stall her posting.

An October 3 order of the CBDT said that "consequent upon approval of the Competent Authority" Tyagi has been "promoted to the grade of Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (level 17 in the pay matrix Rs 2.25 lakh)".

Consequent upon the promotion, she was posted as Principal Director General of Income Tax (Training) at the National Academy of Direct Taxes in Nagpur, the order said.

An official explained that the promotion tantamount to "washing away of past sins" as one gets promoted only after vigilance clearance. "You cannot get promoted if you are under any clout," he explained, rejecting theory of she being victimised.

On she being transferred to Nagpur, the official said employees have a right to being promoted but they don't have a right over place of posting, which is a prerogative of the government.

The Indian Express had on Saturday reported that Tyagi had in her allegations against Mody stated that she was repeatedly to drop proceedings in a "sensitive case" involving "serious allegations".

Tyagi, a 1984 batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, had alleged that an old vigilance case against her, which was disposed of by Mody himself, was now being used by him as a "weapon of blackmail" to stall her posting.

According to Indian Express report, her complaint details a pending vigilance inquiry pertaining to banking transactions linked to her family. She stated that her husband, V Raman Kumar, is a non-resident businessman and a former IRS official. In 2012, Kumar sold his Nasdaq-listed firm Mmodal.

The vigilance matter began with a 2016 enquiry by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) into "some large transactions" in banks accounts of her family members wherein she was a signatory. "Exhaustive" enquiry did not find any violations.

Tyagi's office handled several high-profile assessment cases. Some of them are the Deepak Kochhar - ICICI Bank case, the Jet Airways tax evasion schemes case, and tax notices sent to Mukesh Ambani's wife and children for undeclared foreign assets.