IAS officer takes voluntary retirement after tiff with Excise Minister

Hyderabad: Senior Telangana IAS officer Syed Ali Murtaza Rizvi has taken voluntary retirement after differences with Excise Minister Jupally Krishna Rao over high-security liquor hologram tenders.

Rizvi, who was Principal Secretary, Commercial Tax and Excise, took voluntary retirement on Wednesday. Known for his integrity, the officer cited personal reasons for seeking voluntary retirement.

The state government notified the same and placed M Raghunandan Rao, Commissioner, Commercial Taxes, in the full additional charge as Secretary, Revenue (Commercial Taxes & Excise) Department. A letter written by Jupally Krishna Rao to the Chief Secretary on Wednesday, urging him to reject Rizvi’s application for voluntary retirement in view of the alleged "grave misconduct", surfaced on Thursday. The minister cited the earlier letter written by him, disclosing what he called acts of the IAS officer constituting grave misconduct and those attracting criminal liability.