The Yogi Adityanath government has suspended Rajesh Kumar Dwivedi, Deputy Commissioner of the State Tax Department, after uncovering a ₹5.95 crore fake Input Tax Credit (ITC) fraud.
According to an official order, Dwivedi has been placed under immediate suspension following a departmental probe that found severe financial irregularities during his tenure as Assistant Commissioner in Gorakhpur.
The investigation revealed that Dwivedi had allegedly facilitated fraudulent registrations of shell firms and failed to comply with procedural guidelines, enabling fake tax credits that caused massive losses to the exchequer.
Departmental Findings: Shell Firms and Bogus ITC Transactions
The inquiry report stated that Dwivedi approved the GST registrations of fake firms, including Tiwari Enterprises, Dinesh Enterprises, and Himanshu Traders, without proper verification of their business locations or documents.
Upon inspection, officials found no physical existence of these firms at their registered addresses. It was discovered that bogus IGST input credits were fraudulently claimed and transferred outside the state through fabricated invoices.
The department concluded that Dwivedi’s actions, and his failure to enforce verification norms, directly enabled the issuance of fake tax credits to the tune of nearly ₹5.95 crore, causing a significant revenue loss to the Uttar Pradesh government.
Suspension Order and Financial Impact
Following the probe, the state government invoked Rule 4 of the U.P. Government Servant (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1999, suspending Dwivedi with immediate effect.
The official order noted that he was primarily responsible for the ₹5.95 crore loss to the government, and disciplinary proceedings are now underway.
During the suspension period, Dwivedi will remain attached to the State Tax Office in Saharanpur, pending further investigation.
Pattern of Misconduct: Similar Suspensions in Tax Department
This is not the first instance of misconduct in the State Tax Department. The government had earlier suspended three Assistant Commissioners in similar corruption and procedural negligence cases.
Among them was Jitendra Kumar, the then Assistant Commissioner of Hapur, who was suspended for approving the registration of Nisha Enterprises without verifying documents.
Another officer, Abhay Kumar Patel, also from Hapur, was found guilty of processing GST registration without inspection, while Ajay Kumar from Gorakhpur faced action for clearing documents for Lucky Enterprises without due diligence.
Officials say these repeated incidents highlight systemic lapses and the urgent need for stricter internal audits to prevent misuse of GST registration and ITC frameworks.
