ED official caught by DVAC with Rs 20 lakh bribe
The DVAC team later raided the Madurai office of enforcement directorate, to which Ankit Tiwari is attached.
Representative image
CHENNAI: Even while the enforcement directorate (ED) officials are busy raiding TN ministers and businessmen, the directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption (DV&AC) sleuths on Friday arrested an ED official in Dindigul while accepting second instalment of bribe of Rs.20 lakh from a government doctor. The arrest, of course, triggered a debate over jurisdiction issue, as DVAC usually trap only state government officials and not officials of central government offices.
The arrested ED officer has been identified as Ankit Tiwari and was caught by officials from the DVAC near a toll gate in Dindigul after intercepting a car he was travelling in after a chase. He joined the ED in the year 2016 and had earlier served in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
The DVAC team later raided the Madurai office of enforcement directorate, to which Ankit Tiwari is attached.
The complainant is involved in disproportionate asset case and he was earlier summoned to ED Madurai office for questioning. The government doctor was told about possibility of re-opening the case by the ED and he was asked to pay a bribe of Rs.3 crore which was reduced to Rs.50 lakh through negotiation. First instalment was already made. Ankit Tiwari was caught on Friday while receiving the second instalment, sources said.
Even as senior bureaucrats are checking rule books on DVAC's arrest of a central government employee, P Wilson, senior Madras High Court and Rajya Sabha MP, (DMK) said that the state agency (DVAC) has the authority to arrest and prosecute an officer of the union government in a corruption case in the event of the state government withdrawing general consent given to the CBI. Even if the general consent is not withdrawn by the state, the investigation agency of the state government has the authority to arrest and prosecute a central government officer when he/she engages in corruption or demands bribes. It falls under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
"When someone is demanding bribes or engaging in corruption in the state, how can they argue that the state agency does not have the power to arrest and prosecute," wondered Wilson.
The DVAC rule books says that the state agency may take immediate action in respect of the central government employees, where a 'trap' has to be laid to catch a central government employee red handed and there is no time to contact any representatives of Delhi special police establishment division, the trap may be laid by the state agency and thereafter, the Delhi special police establishment division should be informed immediately and it should be decided in consultation with them whether the further investigation should be carried out and completed by the state agency or by the Delhi special police establishment division.
