The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) on Friday (04.04.2025) issued transfer and posting orders for 177 officers in the grade of Principal Commissioner / Commissioner of Customs and Indirect Taxes.
Govt’s approval must to prosecute officers even for excesses of official powers: SC
In a path-breaking development, the Supreme Court has come to the rescue of public servants, particularly the police officers, often accused of exceeding their powers while discharging their duties. The apex court has ruled that government’s prior approval is a must to prosecute public servants even if accused of exceeding their official powers. The top court held that public servants enjoy statutory safeguard and this protection applies even in cases where officials exceed their official powers. The excessiveness alone cannot strip them of this safeguard, the highest court has ruled.
This ruling was delivered by a bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma while hearing pleas of police officers challenging the criminal proceedings against them for exceeding their powers on the ground that government’s nod was not taken for it.
The Bench said a plain reading of Section 170 of Police Act reveals the legislature has sought to afford a statutory safeguard to certain public functionaries, and if any offence is alleged to have been committed by such officials while discharging their duties then no court shall entertain any prosecution or suit against them without govt’s prior sanction.
The court accepted the plea that even the offence of use of excessive power by public servant would fall within the ambit of Section 170 for which sanction was needed. It was clarified that this protection of prior sanction is applicable only when there is a reasonable connection between the act and the duty. It should be noted here that an officer can be stripped of this protection if he/she uses official power as an excuse to indulge in excesses.
CAT turns down IAS officer Vani Prasad’s plea for allocation to Telangana
The issue of cadre allocation continues to dog the bureaucrats of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. In the latest case, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) turned down the plea of a senior IAS officer A Vani Prasad (IAS:1995:AP), seeking a direction to allot her Telangana cadre. She has only two years of service left for retirement.
In the backdrop of the creation of a separate Telangana state from the unified State of Andhra Pradesh, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) had recently allotted some officers to Andhra Pradesh cadre along with Vani Prasad as part of the distribution of All India Service officers.
But Prasad challenged this order and moved the CAT seeking to be allocated to Telangana cadre. Her contention that she spent her childhood and schooling in Hyderabad failed to move the tribunal to order her allocation to Telangana. The fact is she belongs to Guntur of AP and Hyderabad was Andhra’s capital before separation of Telangana. The Bench observed that the adjustment of officers is done keeping in view the public interest and an officer has to follow the allocation order.
CBIC notifies promotions, postings for 12 senior officials
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) on Friday (04.04.2025) announced key promotions and transfers of senior officials to the rank of Principal Chief Commissioner (PCC), Principal Director General, Chief Commissioner (CC), and Director General (DG) of Customs and Indirect Taxes.
Promoted to Principal Chief Commissioner (PCC):
- Raj Kumar (IRS-C&IT:1990) – DG AP
- Valte Vungzamuam (IRS-C&IT:1990)– DG HRD (I&W)
- Amand Shah (IRS-C&IT:1991) – DGHRD (HRM)
- Chandra Prakash Goyal (IRS-C&IT:1991) – DG GST, Delhi
- Prachi Saroop (IRS-C&IT:1991) – Mumbai Cus-III Zone
Promoted to Chief Commissioner (CC)
- M Subramanyam (IRS-C&IT:1991) – NACIN, Palasamudram
- Anuj Gogia (IRS-C&IT:1992)– CGST Jaipur Zone
- Kajal Singh (IRS-C&IT:1992)– CGST & CX Bengaluru Zone
- Pradeep Saxena (IRS-C&IT:1992) – CGST & CX Ranchi Zone
- Naveen Kumar Jain (IRS-C&IT:1992) – CGST & CX Panchkula Zone
- Rajiv Kapoor (IRS-C&IT:1992) – DGGI (SNU), Chennai
- Manas Ranjan Mohanty (IRS-C&IT:1992) – CGST & CX Bhopal Zone
SC collegium recommends eight Judicial Officers as Judges of Allahabad HC
The Supreme Court Collegium has recommended the elevation of eight Judicial Officers as Judges of the Allahabad High Court. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Collegium held on April 02, 2025.
They are;
- Jitendra Kumar Sinha
- Abdul Shahid
- Anil Kumar-X
- Tej Pratap Tiwari
- Sandeep Jain
- Avnish Saxena
- Madan Pal Singh
- Harvir Singh
Click here to see Collegium Recommendation
TN govt reshuffles 8 IPS officers; Santosh Kumar appointed IGP, EOW
In a significant reshuffle in the police administration, the Tamil Nadu government on Friday (04.04.2025) transferred eight IPS officers. Among the key changes, senior IPS officer Santosh Kumar has been posted as Inspector General of Police (IGP), Economic Offences Wing (EOW), marking one of the most notable appointments in the latest round of transfers.
The names of the officers and their postings are as follows;
- Seema Agrawal (IAS:1990:TN), DGP, Civil Supplies CID, has been transferred and posted as DGP/Director, Fire and Rescue Services.
- Rupesh Kumar Meena (IPS:2005:TN), IGP, Civil Supplies CID, has been given additional charge of DGP, Civil Supplies CID.
- Vijayendra S Bidari (IPS:2005:TN), IGP, awaiting posting orders, has been posted as IGP/Additional Commissioner of Police, Hqrs, Greater Chennai Police, Chennai.
- Kapil Kumar C Saratkar (IPS:2002:TN), IGP/Additional Commissioner of Police, Hqrs, Greater Chennai Police, Chennai, has been transferred and posted as IGP, Enforcement.
- G Karthikeyan (IPS:2002:TN), IGP, Enforcement, has been transferred and posted as IGP/Additional Commissioner of Police, Traffic, Greater Chennai Police, Chennai.
- Santosh Kumar (IPS:2002:TN), IGP/Joint Director, Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, has been transferred and posted as IGP, Economic Offences Wing.
- M Sathiya Priya (IPS:2005:TN), IGP, Economic Offences Wing, has been transferred and posted as IGP, Welfare, O/o the DGP/HoPF, Tamil Nadu.
- Dr. M Durai (IPS:2009:TN), DIG, Welfare, O/o the DGP/HoPF, Tamil Nadu, has been transferred and posted as DIG, Hqrs, O/o the DGP/HoPF, Tamil Nadu
WAPCOS wins World Water Award 2024-25 for best consultancy in water sector
WAPCOS, a “Mini Ratna-I” Public Sector Enterprise under the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, has been honoured with the prestigious World Water Award 2024-25 in the category of Best Consultancy in the Water Sector. The award was presented by Raj Bhushan Choudhary, Minister of State, Ministry of Jal Shakti, at a ceremony organised by Water Digest and supported by UNESCO.
This recognition reaffirms WAPCOS’ commitment to engineering consultancy excellence under the leadership of CMD R.K. Agrawal. The award was received on behalf of the company by Director Amitabh Tripathi, Senior General Manager Sanjay Sharma, and Head (Corporate Communications) Sumir Chawla.
WAPCOS is a technology-driven Consultancy and EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) organization. Since its inception, it has delivered engineering consultancy services in over 75 countries, establishing a strong global presence, especially across South Asia and Africa in the sectors of water, power, and infrastructure.
BoB, BoI, IDBI report robust credit growth in Q4 FY25
State-run Bank of Baroda (BoB) on Thursday announced a credit growth of 12.8%, with total advances reaching Rs 12.3 lakh crore for the quarter ended March 2025, up from Rs 10.9 lakh crore a year earlier. The bank also reported a 10.25% rise in total deposits, which stood at Rs 14.7 lakh crore as compared to Rs 13.35 lakh crore at the end of March 2024. Consequently, the bank’s total business rose 11.4% year-on-year to Rs 27.03 lakh crore.
Meanwhile, Bank of India posted a 13.59% growth in advances, reaching Rs 6.65 lakh crore in Q4 FY25, up from Rs 5.85 lakh crore in the same quarter last year. The lender’s deposits increased 10.65% to Rs 8.16 lakh crore from Rs 7.37 lakh crore in the previous year.
IDBI Bank, which is majority-owned by LIC, reported a 16% jump in advances, touching Rs 2.18 lakh crore, compared to Rs 1.88 lakh crore in the corresponding quarter of FY24. Deposits at the bank grew 12% to Rs 3.10 lakh crore, up from Rs 2.77 lakh crore a year ago.
Business Tycoon Anand Mahindra showers praises on Telangana IAS officer D Krishna Bhaskar
Noted Indian industrialist Anand Mahindra is known to celebrate Indian talent. This time he has picked an enterprising IAS officer of Telangana cadre, D. Krishna Bhaskar, for coming up with an innovative solution to India’s water woes. While being posted as district collector in the Rajanna-Sircilla region of the state, Bhaskar created history by managing to increase groundwater levels by six metres in less than four years in 2020.
The billionaire took to his account X (formerly twitter) to shower his praise on this young IAS officer. The tycoon notes that depleting water resources has been a major concern in a country whose economy is dependent on farming. He calls Bhaskar’s accomplishment as an astonishing achievement for which no praise can be enough. The business tycoon goes a step further to announce that Bhaskar gives us hope that none of our problems are insurmountable.
This IAS officer is currently posted as Director of Industries under Telangana government.
Punjab govt to turn bureaucrats into school guides
The Punjab government has come out with a maverick plan to turn bureaucrats into school guides. The government approved the proposal on Thursday to implement this scheme, called the mentorship programme. Under this programme, IAS, IFS, IRS, and IPS officers are supposed to adopt government schools and guide their students for excelling in life. This pilot project is to be introduced in 80 schools of eminence with 80 officers being allotted a school each for a period of five years. The transfer of these officers also will not alter their responsibility of coaching students of their adopted schools.
It was decided in a Cabinet meeting chaired by none other than the state Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann himself.
According to a statement released by the government, these officers will work as mentors, not as bosses and will prepare the students for competitive exams. Besides, they have to train the teachers for upgrading their skills as well. These officers are believed to act as a catalyst for mustering resources for development of these schools. The government source said this work will be voluntary service in addition to the allocated duties of these officers.
While briefing the media, state Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said the officers will have to keep visiting the schools once in a week or a month, share their experience with the students and have a bond of love with them. They will also be allowed to interact with the students through video-conferencing .
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