Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: The Excise Department has assigned Vigilance-related responsibilities to Harish Naik, an employee whose dismissal from service in a government revenue misappropriation case was later replaced with a lesser penalty, despite an explicit condition that he should not be placed in a sensitive position.
Naik, who has since been demoted from Upper Division Clerk to Lower Division Clerk, has been given responsibilities in the Vigilance wing that include dealing with complaints against employees, vigilance matters, public grievances and issues concerning toddy tappers.
The assignment comes months after the Chief Secretary, while deciding Naik’s appeal, directed that he should not be entrusted with sensitive postings in the future.
The disciplinary case dates back to Naik’s tenure at the Pernem Excise Station. An inquiry into the handling of licence-related collections between 2018-19 and 2021-22 established that government revenue amounting to ₹16.86 lakh had not been deposited into the State Treasury.
The Directorate of Vigilance’s Anti-Corruption Branch subsequently concluded that Naik’s involvement in the irregularities was “predominantly made out”.
The financial liability was later recovered. The government recovered ₹16.86 lakh towards the misappropriated amount and another ₹10.91 lakh in late fees, bringing the total recovery to ₹27.78 lakh.
Naik was dismissed in September 2025, but appealed against the penalty. In February 2026, the appellate authority concluded that dismissal was excessive in view of the subsequent recovery of the government dues, and substituted it with demotion.
The revised punishment placed Naik in the LDC cadre for six years and prevented him from seeking promotion during that period. His suspension and dismissal period was also treated as ‘dies non’, with consequences for pension, increments and leave.
While reducing the penalty, however, the appellate authority did not overlook the seriousness of the misconduct. The order recorded that Naik had played a role in the episode and stressed that he should not be allowed to occupy sensitive assignments in future.
The latest Excise Department order has nevertheless placed him in a role involving scrutiny and handling of complaints. It also allows him to be entrusted with additional responsibilities by senior officers.
The case had prompted the government to examine weaknesses in the Excise Department’s licence payment process. The appellate findings pointed to shortcomings in the existing system and supervision and called for stronger safeguards to prevent similar incidents.
Among the measures recommended were linking licence issuance and renewal to actual confirmation of payment by the bank, integrating the payment gateway with the e-challan system and reducing dependence on offline transactions.
The findings also cautioned against treating the generation of stamped challans as sufficient proof of payment, noting that such documents could be forged.
The decision to place Naik in the Vigilance wing despite the earlier restriction is now likely to attract scrutiny over whether the nature of his new assignment is compatible with the conditions imposed while modifying his dismissal.
