Chandigarh IAS Officer Rupesh Kumar Transferred After Crackdown on Illegal Liquor

Explore the story of Chandigarh IAS officer Rupesh Kumar’s transfer following his decisive action against illegal liquor sales. Understand the implications of his bold decisions and the subsequent bureaucratic shift.

Just five days after initiating stringent measures against the unauthorized sale of alcohol, Chandigarh IAS officer Rupesh Kumar faced an unexpected career shift. Kumar, who had been instrumental in sealing establishments and suspending the licenses of ten major liquor vend owners, was reassigned from his role in the Excise department.

This sudden move was formalized through an order from Home Secretary Nitin Yadav, who concurrently serves as the acting Adviser. The order detailed a reshuffling of responsibilities, transferring the roles of Additional Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner, and Collector from Kumar to Pradyuman Singh of the Haryana Civil Service.

Insiders reveal that Kumar’s decisive action on January 19 led to the sealing of ten out of twelve scrutinized liquor vends, citing violations of the Liquor Act’s terms and conditions. These vends were situated in key areas across the city, indicating a significant impact on the local liquor market.

During his tenure, Kumar had notably intensified scrutiny on liquor vend owners, effectively curtailing the sale of illicit alcohol. His efforts over five months, starting in September, resulted in the documentation of over 30 cases related to the illegal liquor trade. In one of his recent enforcement drives, the Excise department imposed penalties totaling Rs 30 lakh on the offending vend owners.

Additionally, Kumar has been relieved of his responsibilities as the Additional Deputy Commissioner. This development comes after a period where he resolved over 250 VAT appeals, some of which had been pending for years, within just five months of his appointment.

Rupesh Kumar, a member of the 2019 AGMUT cadre, originally from Amritsar, Punjab, is known for his resilience despite suffering from vision loss due to retinitis pigmentosa. A product of Amritsar’s educational institutions and Delhi’s prestigious JNU and NLU, Kumar has earned a reputation for fair and judicious decision-making in bureaucratic circles.