The Excise & Taxation Departments of Punjab have announced to go on leave against the ongoing activities of the Vigilance Bureau. For the time being, they have announced a holiday for one day which can be increased depending on the situation. This decision by both departments comes a day after PCS Officers Association on Monday announced to go on a mass leave over the arrest of RTA Narinder Singh Dhaliwal from Ludhiana.
President of Association of Excise and Taxation Department Punjab, Jaskaran Singh Brar said that the Vigilance Bureau has come down to arbitrariness which has impacted their department as well. He added that the VB is unnecessarily harassing people and are not following a proper procedure of inquiry. All the organizations of the Excise and Taxation Department on Tuesday declared leave to support the ongoing agitation against the Vigilance of the PCS Association.
The PCS Officers Association released a press statement in which they stated that the arrest of RTA Dhaliwal was unfortunate and not as per the law or guidelines of PCS Association. Along with this IAS association is also upset with Vigilance Bureau over FIR lodged against IAS Neelima without taking sanction under section 17 A.
The Vigilance Bureau on 5th January 2023 lodged an FIR against IAS Neelima and 10 other officers for transferring/bifurcation of an industrial plot to a realtor company and allowing it to establish township by cutting plots. While RTA Narinder Singh Dhaliwal was arrested on 6th January 2023 for allegedly collecting bribes from transporters.