https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=756999 Suspension of a tax officer exercising quasi-judicial refund-processing functions cannot be sustained without strong prima facie material of grave misconduct or moral turpitude. Where the officer followed the prescribed GST refund verification procedure under the statutory and circular-based framework, later discovery of fraud in the underlying refund claims does not by itself justify suspension, especially if physical verification of e-way bills was not required by the governing circular. The stated principle is that suspension is an exceptional measure and must rest on serious misconduct or a public-interest basis for non-continuance in office, while departmental proceedings may still continue and an alternative posting may be used to reduce prejudice during inquiry. en-us Wed, 07 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0530 Wed, 07 May 2025 23:32:00 +0530 TaxTMI RSS Generator https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=756999 Suspension of a tax officer exercising quasi-judicial refund-processing functions cannot be sustained without strong prima facie material of grave misconduct or moral turpitude. Where the officer followed the prescribed GST refund verification procedure under the statutory and circular-based framework, later discovery of fraud in the underlying refund claims does not by itself justify suspension, especially if physical verification of e-way bills was not required by the governing circular. The stated principle is that suspension is an exceptional measure and must rest on serious misconduct or a public-interest basis for non-continuance in office, while departmental proceedings may still continue and an alternative posting may be used to reduce prejudice during inquiry. Case-Laws GST Wed, 07 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0530 https://www.taxtmi.com/caselaws?id=756999