Gurugram: A group of chartered accountants (CAs), led by members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), conducted a ‘havan’ ceremony outside the Sector 32 CGST office on Friday.

This was in protest to catch the “real culprits” in a case, where two Gurugram-based CAs were arrested a week ago for allegedly issuing audited statements of fake companies to claim input credit tax (ICT) to the tune of ₹15 crore.

ICT is the tax that gets paid when a good or service is purchased. The amount is deducted from the total payable tax and refunded. Naveen Garg, ex-chairman, ICAI Gurgaon chapter, said, three officials were transferred on Wednesday due to corruption charges against them. “We did a havan so that the department could be cleansed, and new officials can work with honesty,” he said.

Two officials have been suspended, five transferred, including three from Gurugram. “We strongly believe that there should be a high-level CBI enquiry to expose corrupt officials. There should be an independent enquiry into this. Refunds of several crores were sanctioned within hours. The CAs, who issued certificates, were arrested, while no action was taken against officials who sanctioned refunds,” he said.

Mohit Singhal, chairman, ICAI, Gurugram, said that this havan will help usher in some positive energy. Protesters said that a whistle-blower had emailed a complaint to the CGST alleging a major racket being run regarding fraudulent ITC claims, following which an enquiry was initiated and raids were conducted. The probe found that some entities were involved in fake ICT claims of over ₹13 crore. The two CAs had issued certificates to two of these entities for refunds. They have been identified as Sunil Mahalawat and Gaurav Dhir.

Protesters alleged that the CAs were framed in the case, while no action was taken against beneficiaries or officials who approved the claims.