SJB raises concerns over questionable process of appointing new AECs

Former SJB MP Mujibur Rahuman yesterday called on the Finance Ministry Secretary and the Excise Commissioner General to intervene immediately to rectify the issue of appointing new Assistant Excise Commissioners through a questionable examination.

Addressing the media in Colombo, Rahuman said that a crisis caused by appointing excise commissioners in a haphazard manner without following proper examination process would have negative repercussions on excise revenue collection process.

Rahuman said that the Excise Department had already failed to collect due tax revenue from liquor producers and a crisis caused by appointing excise commissioners through an informal examination had exacerbated the crisis because many officials in the Department are up in arms against it.

“Further to this, there is a question of the legality of the licenses issued by these assistant commissioners. The Excise Commissioner and the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance have done nothing to rectify this situation. They must intervene immediately to sort this out,” Rahuman said.

“A group of excise officers have already gone before courts against these appointments on the grounds that the examination was not legal. The Public Service Commission and its Appeals Board, too, have issued statements to the effect that the said examination was an illegal one. Both the Finance Ministry Secretary and Commissioner General Excise keep mum on this issue which results in further decrease in collection of excise revenue. The Inland Revenue Department, coming under the Finance Ministry, already has failed to collect a tax revenue of between Rs 800 to Rs 900 billion, and the Excise Department, too, has failed to collect their revenue”, the former MP said.