The civil society crusader had requested CBDT for waiver of the bond condition after resigning.
The battle between Anna Hazare team member Arvind Kejriwal and the finance ministry over his failure to settle the dues for the acceptance of his resignation from the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) in 2006, is a procedural matter.
Kejriwal joined IRS in 1995, but the problem started on November 1, 2000, when he opted for a study leave for of years till October 31, 2002. A senior Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) official told Business Standard that according to the study leave conditions, Kejriwal had signed a bond which required him to mandatorily serve the government for three years after coming back.
Kejriwal joined back on November 1, 2002. The CBDT official said that in 2003, Kejriwal was promoted as joint commissioner and was transferred from Delhi to Chandigarh but he never joined there. The official said he went on Extra Ordinary Leave (EOL) for two years thereafter from November 1, 2003 to October 31, 2005 and resigned in February 2006.
This meant that, effectively, he worked with the income tax department for one year after coming back from the study leave, against the bond condition of three years.
The CBDT official said the bond condition outlined that if he quits within three years after joining back, he would have to pay back the leave salary with interest, as determined by the government. “Kejriwal is deficient by two year,” added the official.
Kejriwal’s argues that he resigned after working for three-and-a-half years and has not violated the bond condition. In fact, Kejriwal requested CBDT for a waiver of the bond condition after resigning from service on the submission that he had been working for a public cause — the Right to Information (RTI) — which helped the government.
The CBDT official said the board had taken a favourable view on his request and the then CBDT chairman B M Singh had recommended a waiver in 2007. “The matter was sent to the revenue secretary and finance minister for approval but it was referred to the Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT), which subsequently rejected the request in 2008 and asked CBDT to recover the dues from Kejriwal,” said the official..
The CBDT official said since then the department had sent a number of letters to Kejriwal for the payment of dues, which is a must for accepting his resignation, but he had ignored.
The latest notice was sent by CBDT on August 5. This was the time when the battle between the Anna Hazare team and the government was brewing on the Lokpal Bill, raising apprehensions of a political motive behind the move.
Kejriwal has pointed out that it was not specified that he cannot go on leave during the three year period he had to serve after coming back from his study leave. The government’s contention, on the other hand, is that he is two-years’ deficient in service as per the bond conditions and will have to pay the dues.
The CBDT letter sent to Kejriwal on August 5 says requested him to pay Rs 9,27,787 as the outstanding due amount. The dues include Rs 3.54 lakh as his leave salary and Rs 4.16 lakh as interest on it. He is also required to pay Rs 51,950 which was the balance amount on a computer loan and Rs 1.04 lakh interest on that.
Kejriwal, in his response to CBDT’s latest letter, has said” “I have already written many times earlier that the dues against the computer loan may be settled against my PF/GPF and other benefits. Regarding violation of the bond condition, I wish to state that I have not violated the bond condition”.
