IRS officer suspended for criticising Nirmala Sitharaman: Report

The Centre on 29 January suspended Indian Revenue Services (IRS) officer B Balamurugan after he demanded the dismissal of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. His suspension came two days before his scheduled retirement date i.e. on 31 January. In Chennai, Balamurugan held the position of Deputy Commissioner for Goods and Service Tax (GST).

His suspension came two days before his scheduled retirement date i.e. 31 January. In early January this year, he had accused the finance minister of ‘converting the ED into an extended arm of BJP,’ media reports have stated.

“They want to teach me a lesson”, he told Hindustan Times.

The suspension order as seen by HT stated “disciplinary proceedings are contemplated” whereas no other reason was given in the order against him. 

What had Balamurugan said about the Finance Minister?

As per media reports, Balamurugan had written to President Droupadi Murmu over the dismissal of the Finance minister about the ED summons made in July 2023 to two Dalit farmers in Salem in Tamil Nadu district about a money laundering investigation. The two farmers, Kannaiyan (72) and Krishnan (67) had claimed that a local BJP politician was attempting to seize their land illegally. As per the report, their summons had caused an uproar on social media earlier last month as their caste was listed in the ECIR (Enforcement Case Information Report).

In his letter to the President, he had wrote, “The incident shows how the Enforcement Directorate has become an extended arm of the BJP.” “In fact, the finance minister Nirmala Sitaraman, after taking over the charge, has successfully converted the Enforcement Directorate into BJP Policy Enforcement Directorate,” he wrote in the letter as quoted by HT.

In another incident, he also told HT that during the Lord Ram Lalla Temple Pran Pratishta ceremony in Ayodhya on 22 January, he wrote to Finance Minister and the Union revenue secretary saying that he wished to work while the Central government was closed for half day. 

“Only our office in Chennai was functioning for me to work. This irritated them more. Obviously, because of these two incidents, I’m suspended. They want to teach me a lesson,” he told HT.