Customs, ACC chiefs8217; spat over raids

MUMBAI, JANUARY 7: The fallout of the CBI's surprise raids in the Air Cargo Complex ACC of Customs, Mumbai, in November last, doesn't se...

MUMBAI, JANUARY 7: The fallout of the CBI8217;s surprise raids in the Air Cargo Complex ACC of Customs, Mumbai, in November last, doesn8217;t seem to be going away. Yesterday, chairman of the Central Board of Excise and Customs S D Mohile, and the ACC commissioner V P Singh had a heated exchange of words over the responsibility for the loss of prestige of the department. So charged was the atmosphere that a flustered Mohile is learnt to have thrown down the bouquet of flowers that Singh8217;s office presented to him.

Mohile was on an official tour to Mumbai, as was also member P and V A M Prasad. The spat between Singh and Mohile apparently occurred in Singh8217;s office in the Air Cargo complex, when the chairman met with officers to discuss, among other things, the CBI raids. Commissioner of Nhava Sheva, S S Bedi was also present, sources say.

Sources said the chairman wanted strict action against all 17 officers named in the CBI8217;s FIR on November 19, who were found with varying amounts of cash on them. In fact,the likelihood of the suspension of all 17 is now haunting the department, with unions having got into the debate. One appraiser also threatened at a meeting today to turn a CBI informer if the union was not going to defend him.

Three of the lot of 17 have been suspended following the CBI8217;s recommendation. The uncertainty now is about eight others who were found with more than Rs 5000 on them, or the complete lot of 17.

Yesterday8217;s discussion in Singh8217;s office, however, veered around the responsibility of senior officers, and Mohile seemed to have put the blame squarely on the commissioner. Apparently, of the 17 officers caught red-handed on November 18, several had complaints against them even earlier. The chairman wanted an explanation as to why nothing had been done earlier.

At some point in the discussion, Mohile is learnt to have also dubbed Singh dishonest. That was when the sparks flew.

However, today it was a definite effort to play down the incident, with senior officers first pretending theyhad not heard of it, and then refuting pieces of information.

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Singh himself, when contacted, said no such thing had happened and that 8220;Mr Mohile8221; was one of the best officers he knew. He said Thursday8217;s discussion with the chairman was about the revenue shortfall, and about steps to be taken to tone up revenue collection and ensure a transparent and clean administration. He said any suggestion about a spat was 8220;imaginary.8221; Singh told this reporter she was ethically bound to quote all that he had told her.

When asked about the presence of Bedi, Singh said he was also there solely because his revenue figures were below the targets, and the chairman was naturally anxious. Bedi, when contacted by The Indian Express, refused to comment.