Andhra IRS officer’s suspension revoked, graft probe to continue

HYDERABAD:THE Central Administrative Tribunal on Tuesday revoked the suspension of Indian Revenue Service officer Jasti Krishna Kishore, who is facing a probe for financial irregularities, and directed the Andhra Pradesh government to repatriate him to his parent department—the Central Board of Direct Taxes.

The state government in December suspended Kishore, a 1990-batch IRS officer who joined the Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board in 2014 on deputation as the CEO, over the alleged financial irregularities. It turned down Kishore’s request seeking cancellation of his deputation and repatriation to his parent department, where he was expecting promotion as a principal commissioner (income tax).

The tribunal allowed the government to continue the ongoing Anti-corruption Bureau and CID investigation against Kishore

Kishore faces cases including under IPC sections 420 (cheating) and 120 (b) (criminal breach of trust). He was asked not to leave Vijayawada after the ACB and CID began investigating the charges against him on December 12. Kishore moved the CAT against his suspension and got a stay on December 17. The tribunal also asked the government to clear his salary dues. Opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu

Naidu has accused chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy of hounding the IRS officer because Kishore worked during his rule. He argued that there was no scope for irregularities in the APEDB as it was a body meant to attract investments and has no powers to allot land or grant incentives.

Kishore was among the I-T department officials, who investigated the alleged disproportionate assets case of Reddy. He assessed the income of the Jagati Publications owned by Reddy and levied ~122.78 crore tax on it in 2010. Kishore refused to comment on the tribunal order.

Repeated calls to Praveen Prakash, principal secretary in Chief Minister’s Office, did not elicit any response.