Textile rebate scam: Review committee extends suspension

There is no respite for the 16 officers of the central excise and customs department, who were suspended in the wake of the Rs 15-crore excise rebate scam, as their suspension has been extended by a further 90 days, on Monday.

"A meeting of the review committee, comprising excise commissioner (Surat-I) Sushil Solanki, additional commissioner (preventive wing) Satish Agrawal, and other senior officers of the department, was held on Monday, to review the suspension of the 16 officers. The committee decided to extend the suspension of all the 16 officers (10 superintendents and 6 inspectors) by another 90 days," officials said.

"These 16 officers had directly or indirectly helped the bogus exporters in securing the fraudulent excise rebates. The suspension of 26 other officers, named earlier in the scam, was revoked in the previous meeting of the review committee, in February.

"The committee found no reasons to change its stand, and hence the decision to extend the suspension has been taken," officials added.

Forty-two excise officers were suspended in December last year, after the excise rebate scam was unearthed.

The suspension of 26 of these officers, who were found to be less involved in the scam, was revoked in February. However, since the inquiry into the rebate scam is in progress, these officers were posted at non-sensitive posts outside Surat, as a precautionary measure.

The excise department is investigating 35 firms, which submitted fraudulent claims for rebate of export of textiles on the basis of bogus export documents and fake shipping invoices.