Mr Hargovind IRS

A Man with dedicated and determined soul.

Mr Hargovind was directly selected to the income–tax department in 1948.

He passed away on 23 August, 2007 in Bhopal from complications of renal failure. He was 83 years old.

 

Born in 1924 at village Neo Guradia, district Indore in the State of Madhya Pradesh India, his father died when he was 7 and he was brought up by his mother along with 5 other siblings.  He continued his studies despite poverty and hardship by remaining focused and dedicated.

He passed High school from MHOW in 1942 and won the Coronation medal for standing first.  In 1944 he passed Intermediate in 1^st division, 5^th in class, won the Holkar college prize in mathematics and a competitive scholarship. In 1946 he passed BSc in 1^st division and obtained distinctions in physics, chemistry and mathematics.  He also won the Maharajah Shivaji Rao Holker medal given to best all rounder of the year.  He was elected the gymnasium captain and won a medal in gymnasium and wrestling and represented the college in long distance running.  He was elected to the student’s council and the library committee.  In 1948 he obtained merit scholarship to study in MSc and stood first class first in physics from Agra College, Agra. 

He was selected to the income tax service in 1948, after working as a lecturer in Daly College Indore and Agricultural College Kanpur.  He was the one of the first person to be selected into the civil services in 1948 from the present Madhya Pradesh after independence. He then held various assignments until his retirement in New Delhi 1982.  In 1977 he obtained bachelor of Law from Magadh University and was admitted to the Bihar state bar council in 1982.

He was income-tax officer in Calcutta and Kanpur; assistant commissioner, income tax at Amritsar, Nasik and Kanpur (both in the administrative and appellate capacity), also serving as undersecretary in the CBDT and as assistant director in the Directorate of Investigation income tax, New Delhi. He also worked as competent authority SAFEMFOPA, director in the MRTP Commission and was CIT-4 and CIT-1, in Delhi looking after important areas of Chandani Chowk and North Delhi until finally retiring from the post as Chief Commissioner income tax in Delhi in 1982, at that time there were only four Chief Commissioners in India.  He was also selected as member of the Income tax Appellate Tribunal. 

 

Following retirement he went to Iraq on a UN assignment and practiced law for some years until such time as he decided to do full time professional writing.  Over the years he contributed regularly to various national (Taxation Practitioner, Chartered secretary, Current Tax Reporter) and international journals  (Intertax, International Railway Journal, Brewing & Beverage industry international, Coffee and Cocoa Reporter International, the Rereport-Insurance, World Insurance report-Informa, Poultry international etc). This he continued until recently.  His last article was published in the August 2007 issue of Intertax. He wrote more than three hundred articles and was on the editorial board of some, as well as being Asian correspondent for Intertax.

 

He is survived by his wife Mrs Kamla Devi, three daughters(Amita, an ophthamologist in Kerala India; Abha, a gynaecologist in London; Shubha a cell biology and genetics professor in New York and a son Jaideep Govind an Indian Administrative Service officer).