The Anti-Corruption Bureau has arrested two Class 2 Goods and Services Tax officials in Nandurbar for allegedly accepting a Rs50,000 bribe from a steel and cement trader, after initially demanding Rs1 lakh to settle discrepancies linked to his GST filings.
The ACB conducted the trap on Thursday at a hotel on the Surat-Dhule highway, where the officials were allegedly caught accepting the negotiated amount. Both officials are attached to the GST office in Nandurbar.
According to an ACB official quoted by the Times of India, the complainant had been regularly paying GST but received two notices from the Nandurbar GST office pointing to discrepancies during verification of his filings. The trader responded to the notices through his Chartered Accountant, the official said.
The trader was later issued show-cause notices for allegedly failing to file annual GST returns for the financial years 2022–23 and 2023–24. One of the accused officials allegedly demanded Rs1 lakh to resolve the pending notices and assist with the unfiled annual returns, according to the ACB account reported by the newspaper.
After the alleged demand was made, the trader approached the Nashik ACB office. The bureau subsequently laid a trap after the amount was reduced to Rs50,000. The officials were arrested while allegedly accepting the money.
Navapur police have registered a case under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. Inspector Yogesh Shinde, who led the operation, said the accused officials had been handed over to the Nandurbar unit of the ACB.
The two officials were produced before a court and remanded in custody until October 12, Shinde said. The case concerns allegations at the investigation stage, and the arrests and remand do not by themselves establish guilt.
The episode follows a familiar point of contact between small businesses and tax administration: notices, filing discrepancies and unresolved compliance proceedings. In this case, the ACB’s account links the alleged bribe demand to the handling of GST notices and annual return filings. Further proceedings will determine the evidence and responsibility in the case.
