A day before his retirement, an IRS (Indian Revenue Service) officer based in Tamil Nadu has got suspended on Monday - January 29. IRS officer B Balamurugan was known for his scathing attacks Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman by alleging that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has become a unit of the BJP. The ED falls under the jurisdiction of the Finance Ministry and his allegations have come when the central agency has been accused of targeting the opposition leaders and the dissenters of the Modi regime. 

The official note sent to Balamurugan has cited that disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against him. The notice that has come a day before his retirement didn't carry any specific reason why Balamurugan was suspended. Balamurugan has made headlines a few weeks ago for slamming Nirmala Sitharaman and he also urged the central government to remove her from the post. 

In a letter that he sent to President Droupadi Murmu, Balamurugan has accused the ED of becoming an extended arm of the BJP. His petition to the President has come when the ED has issued summons to two Dalit farmers in Tamil Nadu and these peasants had a legal friction with a local BJP leader. The incident has sparked fury across the state as several parties have attacked the ED for summoning the farmers who were in a dispute with a leader of the central ruling party.

The News Minute has quoted Balamurugan's statement in his letter to the President, where he wrote, "The incident shows how the Enforcement Directorate has become an extended arm of the BJP. In fact, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, after taking over the charge, has successfully converted the Enforcement Directorate into BJP policy Enforcement Directorate." 

Balamurugan further demanded the sacking of Nirmala Sitharaman by claiming that she was unfit to be the Finance Minister of India. When Balamurugan locked horns with the Union Finance Minister, he was serving as the Deputy Commissioner of Goods and Service Tax (GST) in Chennai. To register his protest against Nirmala Sitharaman, he also had held hunger strike before his office for a day and it has become the first-of-its-kind event in recent times where an officer of the central government has turned into a staunch critic over the conduct of the ED. 

While Balamurugan has come down hard against the ED, his wife and lawyer Dalit Pravina had appeared for the two Dalit farmers in the court on their petition against the ED's summon. It is pertinent to note that in July 2023, the farmers Kannaiyan and Krishnan, who were in their 70s and residents of Attur in Salem district, were perplexed when they received summons from the ED.

In the summon, the ED went on to apparently mention their caste name and it was alleged that the ED had issued summon to them over their dispute with Gunasekar, a local BJP leader. The farmers accused Gunasekar of attempting to take their land in the village illegally. In the wake of an intense fury and criticism, the ED has on this January 4 announced that it would close the case against the farmers, but no such closure has been made so far.