The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Friday announced that it would pass appropriate orders on Monday regarding a petition filed against IAS officer Ahmed Babu, the Chief Commissioner of State Tax. Babu faces allegations of harassing employees by denying promotions and irregularities in tax collections.
Petition Filed by Employees' Association
The Andhra Pradesh Government Employees' Association, through its General Secretary M Ramesh Kumar, moved the High Court seeking directions to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) to initiate action against Ahmed Babu. The petition alleges that Babu engaged in irregular tax collection practices and harassed employees by withholding their promotions.
Court Proceedings
During the hearing on Thursday, the High Court took a serious view of Babu's conduct and directed Advocate General Dammalapati Srinivas to submit details of action taken by the Chief Secretary on the petitioner's representation. On Friday, Srinivas informed the bench that the representation was still under examination by the Chief Secretary. He submitted that the case could be disposed of with a direction to the Chief Secretary to consider the representation and pass suitable orders, adding that ordering an inquiry against the IAS officer would require hearing his version.
Senior Counsel K S Murthy, representing the petitioner, urged the court to direct the Chief Secretary to resolve the employees' issues and, if necessary, order an inquiry against Ahmed Babu. After considering the arguments, Justice Battu Devanand stated that appropriate orders would be passed on Monday.
