Voluntary Retirement of IRS Officer Vashishtha Chaudhary Accepted
The President has accepted the voluntary retirement of Vashishtha Chaudhary, ADG of Indirect Taxes and Customs, effective August 24.
The President of India has accepted the voluntary retirement of Vashishtha Chaudhary, Additional Director General of Indirect Taxes and Customs, an officer of the Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Indirect Taxes), with effect from August 24.
Additional Director General is a senior field-level rank within the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, typically carrying charge of a zone or a specialised directorate responsible for enforcement, anti-evasion work or customs administration. Officers at this level oversee the machinery that collects the country's goods and services tax and customs duties and pursue cases of tax evasion and smuggling.
Voluntary retirement under central government service rules allows an officer with a specified minimum period of qualifying service to seek premature retirement, subject to the government's acceptance. Chaudhary's exit removes an experienced hand from the Customs and Indirect Taxes cadre at a time when the department continues to expand its use of data analytics and risk-based scrutiny to detect evasion.
The Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Indirect Taxes) recruits officers through the civil services examination, and postings typically move between commissionerates, directorates and board-level assignments in Delhi over a career spanning three decades or more before an officer reaches the additional director general rank.
Voluntary retirements at the additional director general and equivalent levels are not unusual in the department and are processed by the Department of Revenue under the Ministry of Finance, with the officer's service record and pension entitlements settled as per the applicable rules.
The vacancy created by Chaudhary's retirement will be filled through the department's routine posting and promotion cycle, which draws from the panel of officers eligible for elevation to the additional director general grade.
The retirement takes effect from August 24, as per the order accepting the request.
