Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs
North Block, New Delhi-110 001
Tel. : +91-11-23092849, Fax : +91-11-23092890
E-mail : vivekjohri.irs@gov.in
DO No. 22 /CH(IC)/2022 | Dated: 02nd May, 2022
Last week began with a kerfuffle! Early in the morning, while settling down for the day’s tasks in my office, I noticed an unusually large number of visitors streaming into the room. One’s curiosity was further piqued when I saw them headed to the balcony attached to the room. Despite all the animation, no one seemed to know exactly what had happened!
Considerable sleuthing by my office revealed that a burning stub had singed the netting on the balcony and started a low intensity fire with a lot of smoke! It did turn out to be a case of more smoke than fire which was put out in no time and order restored. Just goes to show that once in a way we may be required to do some real fire-fighting and not just a virtual one!
Last week also ended with extremely good news on revenue! GST collections for the month of April, 2022 stood in excess of Rs. 1.67 Lakh Crore. This is 20% higher than the corresponding month of last year. A healthy upward trend was also seen in the number, percentage of returns filed as well as in the number of e-way bills generated. Put together, this speaks to the upswing in economic activity in the country as well as the sustained improvement in compliance behavior.
Various measures taken by the tax administration including nudging assesses to file returns accurately and timely, making compliances easier and initiating appropriate action against the delinquent both by central & state GST authorities have all contributed in making the record collections possible.
My sincere congratulations to all field formations of CBIC for keeping the momentum of revenue augmentation measures going.
Moving ahead, on the anti-evasion side, Imphal Customs Division under Customs (Preventive) N.E.R Commissionerate made seizures amounting to more than 19 kg. gold valued in excess of Rs. 10 Crore. The Division also interdicted a large quantity of opium being transported through the land route. Further, Dimapur Customs Division intercepted more than 36 MT of areca nuts smuggled through the border. The cases further underscore the alertness and capabilities of our Preventive formations operating in the most challenging of circumstances.
Moving ahead, we have had a string of successes in detecting the smuggling of narcotics using novel modus operandi both in commercial and courier cargo. The respective teams of officers deserve the highest praise for these cases. On the basis of specific intelligence and adroit analysis of data Airport Special Cargo Commissionerate, Mumbai intercepted a series of import consignments which were found to have Marijuana secreted within. The week long operation led to the interception for more than 28 kgs. of the narcotic. Significantly, based on the information obtained in course of the interception, a controlled delivery was carried out which led to the arrest of 3 individuals and further seizures. Kudos to the officers for their hard work and dedication.
Our digital analytic capabilities once again came to the fore when on specific inputs from the National Customs Targeting Center, goods described as Rock Salt (Salaola Stock/ Sajikhar) arriving from a Middle Eastern port was examined by officers of the Jawaharlal Nehru Customs House along with officers of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI). On examination, packets of white powder, deftly concealed in the rock/lumps, were found to be Heroin. The total recoveries in this case were to the tune of 29 Kgs.
In another case, a syndicate in Pipavav port had adopted a novel modus operandi of soaking thread in a solution containing Heroin. These threads were then dried, made into bales and shipped along with other bales of normal threads. Acting on intelligence jointly developed by DRI and the Anti-Terrorism Squad of Gujarat Police, examination of the consignment led to the recovery of 395 kg of Heroin. Congratulations to the officers for a fine detection.
During the week, we bid farewell to Sh. Suakzathang Nunthuk, from the 1988 Batch who superannuated after having put in 34 years of service. On behalf of the Department and on my personal behalf, my sincere thanks to him for his service to the Department and best wishes for his second innings.
Later this week, Members of the Board and myself would be meeting heads of Zones/Directorates in the course of the Annual Conference of Chief Commissioners. I look forward to focussed and engaging deliberations on a wide spectrum of topics with everyone and their fruitful outcomes culminating in a concrete strategy/ action plan for the current year.
Till next week!
Yours Sincerely,
(Vivek Johri)
All Officers and Staff of Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs
