Tamil Nadu govt removes C S after Income Tax Raid
CHENNAI: A day after Income Tax officials raided chief secretary P Rama Mohana Rao, the Tamil Nadu government removed his from his post. Senior IAS official Girija Vaidyanathan, the second most senior official in the State bureaucracy, is the new chief secretary.
Though he was removed, Rao, an influential person in Tamil Nadu administration, was not placed under suspension as was widely speculated
News agency PTI reported that Girija Vaidyanathan has been named the new Chief Secretary of the state. During the 24-hour long raid, the IT officials reportedly recovered Rs 30 lakh cash in new notes and 5 kgs of gold besides getting “disclosure” about Rs 5 crore of unaccounted income.
Rs 96 crore in old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes was also seized, reports said.The IT officials had raided Rao’s residence on Wednesday morning. The raid ended after 24 hours.
According to IT sources, around 100 Income Tax sleuths conducted raids at the office and the residence of the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary, his son Vivek and some relatives in Chennai and Chittoor in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
The raids come as a huge embarrassment for the AIADMK government and Sasikala as Rao was the to bureaucrat in the administration. He holds the additional charge of Vigilance Commissioner and the Commissioner for Administrative Reforms.
Rao was appointed to the post overlooking the seniority of several IAS officials. The IT action came in connection with a case related to the biggest cash haul of new notes post demonetisation after the department raided some sand mining operators of Tamil Nadu here.
