Tax official sacked for corruption in Punjab

Chandigarh, July 15 (IANS) Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal Tuesday ordered the sacking of a taxation officer and the compulsory retirement of four others, including a woman, on corruption charges.

The dismissed Excise and Taxation Officer (ETO) Baljinder Singh was recruited in 2012 and was still under probation.

His services have been dispensed with after finding him guilty in a corruption case, a spokesman for the excise and taxation department said.

Four other officers compulsorily retired from service include an assistant excise and taxation commissioner and three ETOs. They have been charged with corruption and non-performance.

ETO Baljinder Singh had allegedly accepted a bribe of Rs.1 lakh from trader Bhushan Aggarwal who produced recordings of his conversation with the officer.

Though the officer denied the corruption charge, a probe held him guilty.