GST Council official booked by CBI for bribery

New Delhi: A GST Council official has been booked by the CBI for demanding and accepting bribes while he was posted in the Central Excise Department, an official said on Thursday.

The Central Bureau of Investigation registered the FIR against Monish Malhotra, now posted as Superintendent in the GST Council, on Wednesday on charges of accepting money from businessmen on quarterly and monthly basis for extending undue favours to them. The charges for criminal conspiracy and demanding illegal gratification have been made under the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act. Manas Patra, a private person and tax consultant, has also been booked on the charge of working as a conduit for Malhotra. Malhotra was transferred to the GST Council from the Central Excise Department where he was posted as Superintendent-Range 36. The FIR accused Malhotra, a resident of Kalkaji in south Delhi, of indulging in corrupt practices of extending undue favours to businessmen by not taking action against them in lieu of periodical illegal gratification. Patra is accused of being in regular contact with Malhotra and many other Excise Department officers for working as a conduit for them to collect bribes on their behalf.