2 CGST officials booked for bribery, one held

Lucknow: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case against two officials of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) posted at the regional GST office in Prayagraj for allegedly demanding a bribe for GST registration.
The CBI arrested one of the accused, inspector Hari Shankar Saroj, while the other, CGST superintendent Anil Matlani, managed to escape.
According to the complaint filed by the director of Loopeak Fintech Pvt Ltd, Aditya Kesharwani, he had applied for GST registration of his company through online mode. The physical verification of his firm's premises was to be conducted by CGST superintendent Anil Matlani. When Kesharwani contacted Matlani to expedite the verification, the officer demanded Rs 10,000 bribe.
CBI verified the complainant's claims and found that the bribe amount included a share for another CGST inspector Hari Shankar Saroj, also posted in Prayagraj.
The CBI registered a regular case under Section 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018), against Matlani and Hari Shankar. The case was entrusted to inspector Gaurav Prakash of the CBI's anti-corruption branch (ACB), Lucknow, for further investigation.
Sources in the CBI said that Saroj had been arrested and efforts are on to trace Matlani.