The Crime Investigation Department (CID) is getting ready to interrogating some of the officials of the commercial taxes department including the former Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar in connection with a GST scam. The case which lies in financial impropriety in the department was first registered by the Hyderabad Crime Central Station (CCS), then to the CID.
The Rs 1,400 crore GST fraud involves Big Leap Technologies and Solutions, which was registered as a manpower supplier. The company reportedly passed on Input Tax Credit (ITC) worth Rs 25.51 crore without paying any corresponding taxes to the government. This fraudulent activity has raised concerns about a significant loophole in the commercial taxes system.
The CID is set to re-register cases and interrogate department staff to uncover the extent of the alleged collusion and negligence. Somesh Kumar, who was the special chief secretary at the time, is also under scrutiny, along with several other officials involved in the project.
In line with the said report, the fraud was made possible through a project which was implemented by IIT-Hyderabad which was commissioned by the commercial taxes department to implement software to detect divergences in taxes. There was a WhatsApp group named "Special Initiatives" which included Somesh Kumar, S.V. Kasi Visweswara Rao (Additional Commissioner, ST), A. Siva Rama Prasad (Deputy Commissioner), and Prof. Sobhan Babu of IIT-Hyderabad, was used to communicate instructions regarding the project.
Despite the technological intervention by IIT-Hyderabad, negligence in generating Integrated GST (IGST) and cess notices resulted in a massive Rs 1,400 crore tax evasion. The CID's preliminary investigation has revealed these gaps, and further questioning is expected to shed light on the role of various officials in the alleged misconduct.
This case highlights the growing scrutiny on government departments as authorities intensify efforts to clamp down on tax evasion and ensure accountability within the system.
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