Hyderabad: The State Government has decided to hand over the investigation of the GST input tax scam to the CID. The CID will now look into the involvement of former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) and former IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao (KTR) in the scam within the Commercial Taxes department.
Previously, cases against former Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar and other officials from the state Commercial Tax wing were being investigated. There were allegations that several companies from Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Karnataka avoided paying input tax under the GST Act. This resulted in a revenue loss of around Rs 1,400 crore for the state government.
Officials stated that the Central Crime Station (CCS) began investigating the GST scam based on a complaint from the state Commercial Taxes wing. The department is also analyzing important documents to build the case. During this period, KCR was overseeing the Commercial Taxes portfolio, making the meeting minutes crucial.
The government believes that KCR was fully aware of the GST scam, as every decision made by Somesh Kumar had his approval. The Commercial Taxes department has said they will submit all records to the government for further investigation.
The scam came to light when the Commercial Tax department discovered a fraud of Rs 25.51 crore GST by Big Leap Technologies and Solutions Private Limited. Nearly 75 taxpayers, including major companies like Telangana State Beverages Corporation Limited, were allegedly involved in this scam. Sources mentioned that the involvement of big leaders is suspected because the government was focused on increasing revenue.
The operations of the Commercial Taxes wing were managed by Plianto Technologies Private Limited. Investigators are now trying to trace the origins of the IT companies and the role of the IT department, which was under KTR’s control.
A top official said that without the influence of key figures in the IT wing, the company wouldn’t have been given the significant task of handling the Commercial Tax department’s IT affairs. The Commercial Taxes wing and CCS will jointly finalize a report on the roles of KCR and KTR in the GST scam soon.
