Gross Violation of SOPs in Skill Development Department

Value Added Tax!

• Contravention of procedural formalities renders record inoperable in AG (Audit)
• Non-deduction of VAT from the payment bills in favour of suppliers amounting to 57.73 lakhs shows hanky-panky.

jj correspondent

Jammu, Dec 15: Regarding Clearance Certificate in relation to taxable goods chapter vi section 57 of J&K VAT Act,2005 says, “Any person, being a department of the government or central government or any other government of a state or union territory shall before entertaining a tender for supply of taxable goods or sanctioning any contract for supply of taxable goods, require the supplier or contractor to furnish the Clearance Certificate in the prescribed format issued by the Assessing Authority concerned and if any authority entertains a tender without such certificate from the supplier/contractor, he shall be liable to pay by way of penalty an amount of rupees ten thousand for each such tender.”
Records made available by a source to the team of Jammu Jottings at Srinagar provide a witness that payment to the extent of Rs. 57,73,030 in favour of the below mentioned suppliers has been made vide TV no. and dates mentioned as a) Farah International: 319-323/ 19-03-2015, Rs. 21,20,690; b) Quantum Technologies: 04/25-03-15 Rs.3,94,170′ c) Neelam Engineering: 201/ 05-12-2014 Rs 6,04,820; d) Black Gold: 104. / 03-112014, Rs 8, 90,000; e) Quantum Technologies: 15 / 09-03-16, Rs.1, 28,93; f) Neelam Engineering Works: 14 / 05-12-14, Rs. 4, 26, 270; g) Kapal Industries: 11 / 10-12-2014, Rs. 49,697; h) Laboratory Sales Corporation: 145 /27-03-2015, Rs.2,06,286; i) Sybex Info Sol Ltd 43 /14-12-15, Rs.1,68,185; and Black Gold: 104 / 03-12-14 Rs.7,84,000.
These bills were released by the DDO, Government ITI Srinagar, (Baghi Dilawer Khan), Mohd Ashraf Wani, Sr Scale Principal, (then) including VAT without either having obtained Tax Clearance Certificate from the Suppliers or deduct VAT at source and it has been done intentionally as it is done on 2014, 2015 and then on 2016 again.
Since, J&K VAT Act, 2005, makes it mandatory for a Drawing and Disbursing Officer to obtain Tax Clearance Certificate in the prescribed format, to be issued by Assessing Authority concerned from a supplier or a contractor before making payment in respect of the supplies obtained. Being it matter of 2014, it is still in cold store of the said office. Principal Accountant General (Audit), J&K, Srinagar, has been informing the concerned office as under ss/ k-01/2016-17/HM-21 that there is nothing on records supporting the payment of VAT to Commercial Tax Department by the supplier but the office of Govt. ITI, Srinagar is simply requesting the above named Suppliers to furnish Tax Clearance Certificate for the said period like in No. ITI/Sgr/268 etc, when the document should have been demanded before passing the tenders or at the most before making the payments according to Act, 2005. And the violation of SOPs and the contravention of Procedural formalities should not have been repeated any more.
The concern of the common tax payer here is why at all the DDO here entertains the tenders of the Suppliers without availability of the most essential pre- requisite document of Tax Clearance Certificate. Then why does he release the payment without finally demanding and obtaining it.
Violation of SOPs by any DDO amounts to dereliction of duties on the part of that DDO. He has not been able to even show any cogent reasons for the leniency in favour of suppliers for demanding the said Tax Clearance Certificate but has been simply deferring the matter for last 8 years, especially for last 2 years through his counterpart at Govt. ITI Srinagar.
The Director, Skill Development Department is requested to clear the silhouette cast by such indelible actions of the responsible officers.