Hyderabad CCS police books former Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar and two Commercial Taxes Dept officials

Hyderabad CCS police book former Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar and senior officers from Commercial Taxes Department in ₹1,000 crore Input Tax Cedit scam.

The Central Crime Station (CCS) police of Hyderabad has booked a case against former Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar and two senior officers of the Commercial Taxes Department: Deputy Commissioner A. Siva Rama Prasad and Additional Commissioner (State Taxes) S.V. Kasi Visweswara Rao, in a ₹1,000 crore Input Tax Credit scam. 

The complaint was lodged by K. Ravi Kanuri, the Joint Commissioner (CT) of the Central Computer Wing, Nampally, alleging the GST fraud on July 26. The FIR has also named ‘Plianto Technologies’ and Sobhan Babu, assistant professor at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Hyderabad.

The case came to light during an audit by the Commercial Taxes Department, indicating discrepancies in the tax returns filed by ‘Big Leap Technologies and Solutions Private Limited’. The entity, ostensibly engaged in manpower supplies, has been accused of passing on Input Tax Credit (ITC) without making the corresponding tax payments, resulting in a significant loss to the State exchequer, Mr. Kanuri stated in his complaint to the CCS. 

The bigger picture was revealed when the Commercial Taxes Department looked at IIT-H, which was engaged as a service provider to develop a software for analytics and discrepancy reports-based on tax returns filed by goods and service taxpayers in Telangana. 

“As the audit has revealed discrepancies with Big Leap Technologies that were not identified by the ‘Scrutiny Module’ developed by IIT-H, it prompted the department to authorize an officer to visit the premises of IIT-H for further inquiry. The report of the visit, citing various procedural lapses, highlighted issues such as the lack of documentation for software changes and reliance on oral instructions from senior officials, including the then Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, and S.V. Kasi Visweswara Rao, A. Siva Rama Prasad,” said the police. 

Notably, the reports of the Scrutiny Modulefailed to capture discrepancies related to Integrated GST (IGST), resulting in revenue losses. The involvement of Plianto Technologies was also scrutinised, as operations related to the Commercial Taxes Department were conducted under their banner within IIT-H premises. 

“However, Plianto Technologies denied any software development for the department, raising further questions. To investigate the matter, the agreement between IIT-H and the Commercial Taxes Department was audited, revealing deficiencies such as unclear specifications, lack of timelines, and unclear payment terms. It was also noted that IIT-H had control over data, allowing potential data manipulation to favor specific firms,” added the police.