HC seeks ‘appropriate action’ against AP tax dept chief in accordance with law

Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh high court on Monday directed the state and central govts to take appropriate action as per the law on the representation submitted by AP Govt Employees Association, levelling serious allegations of irregularities in tax collection and harassing employees without clearing promotions file, against chief commissioner of state taxes Ahmad Babu. The court observed that nothing seems to be right in the commercial taxes dept under him.After advocate general Dammalapati Srinivas submitted that the chief secretary is examining the representation, Justice Battu Devanand, without going into the merits of the allegations, directed the secretary, dept of personnel and training (DoPT), the establishment officer, the central vigilance commissioner, and the chief secretary to consider the representation submitted by the association and pass appropriate orders in accordance with law within two months.The high court also asked the chief secretary to consider earlier representations, submitted on Dec 16 last year and March 27 this year. The court further directed that before taking a decision on the March 27 representation, an opportunity must be given to both the employees' association and Ahmad Babu to present their submissions. Justice Devanand directed the officials to submit a detailed action-taken report to the registrar (judicial) by the first week of July and directed the registry to place the report before the court for further consideration.