Sudha Koka and Dr. Awdhesh Singh among Presidential Awardees for Specially Distinguished Record of Service
Sudha Koka — the image was hosted by the publisher and was not captured.CBEC on Friday announced a list of 40 officers for the Presidential Award of Appreciation Certificate for 'Specially distinguished record of service'.It is axiomatic that no awards list can be accurately fair and just - some richly deserving officers don't make it to the list and some not so deserving ones do find place.The awards are usually cornered by the super sleuths like those from DRI - this year it is no different - more than half the awardees are from the investigating agencies.But the department has other wings too, which has officers rendering 'Specially distinguished record of service' like ARs in CESTAT. I don't think any award list is complete without a few names from CESTAT where you have dedicated authorized representatives of the Department slogging it out unheard and unsung.But some officers who have done great service in CESTAT do get these awards after they leave CESTAT and the good work done in CESTAT does tilt the decision in their favour.
Last year DDT reported about Ms. R. Bhagya Devi, Commissioner who got the award and who had rendered exemplary service in CESTAT - but who got the award after she was transferred out of CESTAT.Last year Sabrina Cano, a Superintendent working as AR in CESTAT was an awardee. ()
This year, DDT is sad to report that not a single AR figures in the list of Presidential awardees, but it is heartening to note that a former AR in CESTAT who fought like a little tigress in the Tribunal - Sudha Koka figures in the list.
Sudha is an exceptionally talented officer - she started her career with being declared as the best probationer of the 1995 batch of IRS.She proved her talent as an able advocate for the Department, not only in the CESTAT, but also in the High Court and Supreme Court. In , the High Court observed, "We would like to place on record, our appreciation for the assistance received from the officials of the Excise Department, in particular Mr.D.P.Nagendra Kumar, Commissioner. CDR, CESTAT and Ms. Sudha Koka, Additional Commissioner, SDR, CESTAT". It is not every day that a Departmental officer gets encomiums from a High Court and that too for assisting in a case.
Can you believe this frail looking lady was singularly responsible for realizing about Rs.500 crores of revenue, not with dramatics in the investigation field, but with high intellectual acumen in the courts? She had argued more than 3000 cases in CESTAT and it is not easy to defend the department. reported about how she virtually fought her way to the Supreme Court to get more than Rs.200 Crores as pre-deposit.
Sudha has high academic qualifications with a PG Degree in Management from IIM, Bangalore; a recently acquired LL.M from the Berkeley School of Law, University of California; Master of Business Laws and a PG Diploma in IPR law from the NLSIU, Bangalore.
She is now posted as Additional Commissioner in the Bangalore Service Tax Audit and played an important role in the recent Audit workshop held in Bangalore.
She is passionately committed to the Department and is one officer who richly deserves the Presidential Award.
Another notable awardee this year is Dr.Awdhesh Kumar Singh, ADG in DGCEI at Chennai. Awdhesh wrote two articles in TIOL recently - Five Challenges to Corporate Which look at Govt as inefficient? and Why Should Indians Be Proud of Their Track-record of Corruption? which received tremendous critical acclaim.He is an IIT Engineering graduate with a doctorate from IIIT on e-governance.He has over 500 published articles, which are compiled and published in five books.
It is human nature to find fault in others who succeed than to find fault in the self - because when you find fault within, you have to overcome your fault, which most people don't want to do. Finding fault in others makes it easy to criticize them and overlook the need for self-improvement.
- a quote from his latest book, "The Secret Red Book of Leadership" which was recently released in Chennai.
This scholar taxman was a respected teacher in NACEN.He received the WCO Customs Award in 2011.When he received the award, the probationers of NACEN gave him a rousing applause.When I told him that he received the loudest applause, he told me, "my boys have been practicing that for the last two days."
Dr.Awdhesh recently joined the Chennai unit of DGCEI as its ADG - before that he was Commissioner,LTU.Even he got the award only after he became a sleuth.The officers of Chennai DGCEI felicitated him on this honour with a traditional shawl - what they call a ponnadai.
The awardees include Mr.Giridhar Gopal krishna Pai, Director, Tax Research Unit, CBEC. Anyone who works in TRU should automatically get this award.
This year the award has gone abroad too. Mr. Pankaj Kumar Singh, Additional Commissioner, now First Secretary (Economic) in the Embassy of India, Kathmandu, Nepal, is the proud recipient abroad.
TIOL congratulates the awardees.
Today the Finance Minister is to present the Customs Awards and last year's Presidential Awards.