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NCW for action against CCIT for harassment

Last Updated 19 July 2014, 20:01 IST

The National Commission for Women (NCW) has suggested that the Union Finance Ministry take action against a former chief commissioner income tax (CCIT) for allegedly sexually harassing and harming the career of a woman IRS officer who refused to comply with his “advances” and administrative highhandedness.

On July 2, NCW deputy secretary Raj Singh wrote to the Revenue Secretary requesting “appropriate action” against former IRS officer Satyaprakash.

NCW member Shamina Shafiq, who authored the report that has also been sent to the ministry, also slammed the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), which governs the Income Tax (I-T) Department, for refusing to initiate action against the former CCIT despite repeated complaints by the victim since 2008.

Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi is understood to have been perturbed by the case.

Agreeing with the complainant, the NCW in its report said Satyaprakash began harassing her after she refused to do his bidding during her posting in Siliguri.

Satyaprakash had vehemently contested the charges before the commission, saying the complaints lacked merit and were lodged long after the alleged incidents, as the complainant did not get the desired ruling from the CAT or any other court.

He counter-alleged that the officer was “highly indisciplined at work”, and was prone to “making wild allegations when things did not go her way”.

Satyaprakash, who retired in 2012, was posted as CCIT in Jalpaiguri in January 2008. Her alleged ordeal began when she, along with other revenue officers, received him at an airport when he arrived to take charge as CCIT in Jalpaiguri.

During the introductory conversation, Satyaprakash allegedly became personal. Discovering that she was staying alone in Siliguri, he proposed to come to visit her. The complainant told the commission that she politely declined.

The CCIT also allegedly demanded that she ensure a certain amount reached him every month, which too she declined. Thereafter, she reportedly started getting memos from Satyaprakash, who subsequently recommended her transfer. To humiliate her, he allegedly started communicating directly with her subordinates.

She was finally transferred in October 2008 when she was on leave. The relieving order was posted to her address, which she claimed she never received. She obtained a stay on the transfer from the CAT, but she was not allowed to rejoin duty.

Meanwhile, a report by the CCIT allegedly stalled the promotion of the officer and her subordinates. A court intervention got her posted to Kolkata, despite the department siding with the CCIT. She approached the CAT again, even as the department started an enquiry against her on a six-year-old complaint by Satyaprakash.

He personally approached the high court to get tribunal verdict stayed, allegedly saying that he did it on the directions of the CBDT chairman, but there was nothing on record to substantiate his claim.

Also, after she joined duty backed by the CAT order, he got a police case registered against her. Slamming the CBDT for its insensitivity towards offences against women, the NCW said it was left with no option but to conclude that the complainant had been harassed.

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(Published 19 July 2014, 20:01 IST)

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