“We decided to transfer Rajan Khanal, director general of Inland Revenue Department (IRD), and his deputy Laxman Aryal because they requested me for transfer,” Pun told reporters on Thursday.[break]
While Pun´s excuse appeared lame in itself, he further complicated the matter when he said, “They asked for transfer saying they were finding it hard to sustain the pressure they were facing.”
It is true that Khanal and Aryal, who spearheaded the action against the fake VAT receipt racketeers who could have turned whole the tax system defunct had they not been cracked down, had demanded transfer. Khanal had disclosed this fact to Republica a few weeks ago. But Pun´s statement about the ´pressure´ faced by Khanal and Aryal raised eyebrows instantly. What kind of pressure Khanal and Aryal were facing that compelled them to seek transfer? Who was exerting this pressure? Pun failed to reply to these questions.
Throughout almost a yearlong investigation, Khanal and Aryal had proven their integrity and capacity to successfully interrogate the most influential business people of the country. They had also revealed that they had been receiving threats, pressure from different quarters and even lucrative offers. “If they never gave in to those kinds of pressure, it is clear they sought transfers not because of the outside pressures. The reasons lie within the ministry itself,” said a source, indicating that some of officials in the MoF themselves were trying to protect tax evaders.
Though Khanal refused to talk about the matter, officials close to him said that he sought transfer mainly because he was frustrated with his seniors, including Minister Pun and Secretary Krishna Hari Baskota. Instead of patting their back, they were consistently expressing differences with them over the handling of investigations, he stated.
As a leader elected by public, Minister Pun should have backed them up strongly. But sadly, he claimed that they were unwilling lot and let them go.
Pun even tried to portray the transfers as rewards offered to them. “Khanal told me he wanted a transfer in a policy making department. We fulfilled his wish by transferring him to Monitoring and Evaluation Division of MoF.”
So far, the team working under Khanal and Aryal had completed investigating 405 of 518 firms and slapped taxes and fines worth Rs 3.58 billion against the offenders. They were lately probing 118 firms, 96 of whom are the largest tax paying firms of the country.
IRD was planning to complete the investigations in two months, and some officials opined that the government should not have removed Khanal and Aryal till then as new DG Tanka Mani Sharma and his deputy Madhu Marasini will at least take some time to understand the whole investigations, thereby slowing down the probe.
Pun, however, claimed the changes will not impact the investigations against the fake VAT receipt racketeers.
“We have not touched the core team that is investigating the cases. Hence, I do not think the transfers will affect investigations. As for taking action against the guilty, we will not spare the tax evaders no matter what their status or affiliation is,” he stated.
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