Misappropriation of passenger tax: ACB lodge case against govt officials in Jammu

Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir Anti-corruption Bureau (ACB) on Tuesday registered a case against officials of the Motor Vehicle Department in the Regional Transport Office (RTO) here for alleged embezzlement of passenger tax worth lakhs of rupees from 2018 to 2023.
The case under relevant sections of law, including the Prevention of Corruption Act, was registered against the then Junior Assistant Manju Sharma and others on the outcome of a preliminary verification, the ACB said in a statement here.
It said the verification was conducted by the ACB to look into the allegations of irregularities with regard to collection or deposition of passenger tax as well as probable misappropriation of the same from 2018 onwards till collection of the same through online mode, pursuant to receipt of communication on March 6, 2023 from the General Administration Department.
The statement said the verification conducted revealed that Sharma was deputed in the accounts section of the RTO, Jammu to collect passenger tax from owners of passenger commercial vehicles during the period in question.
“While collecting the passenger tax dues, she acted dishonestly and resorted to randomly conceal the actual amount of passenger tax received from vehicle owners or operators by way of reflecting only a meagre part of the amount in official record.
“The only amount of passenger tax as reflected in counterfoil of the government receipts (GRs) was deposited in the government treasury, whereas the rest of the amount collected from vehicle owners/operators stands misappropriated by her,” the ACB said.
Furthermore, it said the manual cash book, day book and vehicle-wise details pertaining to collection and deposition of passenger tax dues during the period has allegedly not been properly maintained.