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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | In letter to CBDT, Kejriwal admitted violating bond, for ‘larger public good’ by Amitav Ranjan

In letter to CBDT, Kejriwal admitted violating bond, for ‘larger public good’ by Amitav Ranjan

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published Published on Sep 5, 2011   modified Modified on Sep 5, 2011

Contesting an Income Tax notice to him over money he owes the government, Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal has claimed he did not breach any bond norms. However, in a June 2007 letter, he had admitted to having violated the pledge he had signed before proceeding on a two-year study leave from his government service, adding this was done in “larger public interest”.

“At the time of taking study leave, I had signed a bond that I will return and work for the government for at least two years. I joined back the department on 1 November 2002. However, I worked only for one year to 31 October 2003 and again took extraordinary leave (EOL) without pay from 1 November 2003 to go back to my work on RTI,” Kejriwal wrote on June 26, 2007.

“I could have worked for another year and completed the bond conditions. I would have earned a salary also during that period. However, I decided to take EOL to go back to my mission of working for larger public interest,” said the Indian Revenue Service officer in his letter to the chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), a copy of which is with The Indian Express.

“Since I did not fulfill the bond conditions, I have now been asked to pay back the salaries that I received while I was on study leave. I would request you to kindly waive this amount for the following reasons,” he adds, going on to seek waiver under 63 (3) of the Leave Rules, that all his time and work “during and after study leave” were dedicated to the people, that his work had been “recognized within and outside the country” through Magsaysay Award and Satyendra Dubey Memorial Award, and that he did not have the capacity to pay since he had donated all that he had received.

Kejriwal didn’t respond to a text message sent by The Indian Express.

The RTI activist had sent his resignation on February 20, 2006, after the Income Tax department sent numerous letters to him to join duty or face action under the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control & Appeal) Rules.

By this time, IT had not only started questioning his absence from duty but also issues such as non-submission of his study report, his continuation in Delhi even after being posted to Chandigarh in March 2003, and his work on RTI with NGO Parivaratan without taking the government’s permission.

It was only when the CBDT reminded Kejriwal in January 2006 that he had neither “furnished requisite documents” nor “joined the Board” that the activist sent in his resignation.

However, the CBDT refused to accept the resignation because of the bond signed before Kejriwal’s study leave. His June 2007 request for the waiver as “a special case” was sent to the Finance Ministry but the Department of Personnel & Training and the Department of Expenditure rejected it.

On April 2008, the CBDT asked the Chief Commissioner of Income Tax Delhi to “recover the pending dues from Kejriwal as per leave rule and furnish a ‘No Dues Certificate’ so that his resignation may be submitted for approval of Competent Authority”.

The notice sent by the CBDT on August 5 asked Kejriwal to pay Rs 9.27 lakh, to which he responded: “Regarding violation of the bond condition, I wish to state that I have not violated the bond condition.”

The Indian Express, 5 September, 2011, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/in-letter-to-cbdt-kejriwal-admitted-violating-bond-for-larger-public-good/841704/


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