Telangana: Why did senior IAS officer SAM Rizvi suddenly apply for VRS?

Hyderabad: Days after Telangana Excise Minister Jupally Krishna Rao filed a complaint against him, senior IAS officer Syed Ali Murtaza Rizvi, who served as Principal Secretary in the Health and Commercial Tax Department, applied for the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS).

This comes at a time when the Telangana government transferred four senior IAS officers.

Rizvi’s VRS has sparked a debate in the bureaucratic circles. The development also comes against the backdrop of Telangana Excise Minister Jupally Krishna Rao‘s formal complaint to the Chief Secretary against Rizvi on October 22. He accused Rizvi of deliberately stalling tenders for high-security holograms affixed to sealed liquor bottles, thereby allowing an old vendor to continue without facing competition since 2019.

Each label carries a barcode & IT-based tracking system that helps the Excise Department trace every bottle from distillery to retail, preventing illegal liquor trade, counterfeit bottles, and excise tax evasion.

He has urged the government to reject Rizvi’s VRS and initiate action for misconduct.

Sequence of events:

August 13, 2024

The Minister directed Rizvi and the Excise Commissioner to speed up new tenders for the holograms used on sealed liquor bottles, as per G.O.Ms No.112 (dated 15.10.2022).

September 24, 2024

A written reminder was issued, asking Rizvi to publish an Expression of Interest (EoI) for new technology vendors through the Expert Committee constituted under that G.O.

September 27, 2024

Rizvi proposed reconstituting the Expert Committee, removing himself as chairman, a move the minister saw as an attempt to delay the tender.

October 17, 2024

The minister reissued orders to proceed without changes, citing that the existing rules and the Expert Committee were valid.

December 9, 2024

Rizvi sent the file to the Chief Minister for circulation, bypassing the minister’s authority, a violation of Business Rule 22(A), which makes ministerial orders binding on departments.

December 14, 2024

The minister insisted that the decision had already been approved and instructed that the EoI be issued immediately.

February 11, 2025

Rizvi directed the Excise Commissioner to prepare a draft EoI, but no further action followed for weeks.

April 6, 2025

The commissioner went ahead and issued the EoI notification without prior government approval. Rizvi allegedly took no corrective action.

April 29, 2025

The minister instructed Rizvi again to ensure evaluation of EoIs was done only through the Expert Committee.

By October 2025

A total of 23 companies submitted bids by April 2025. However, Rizvi didn’t take any action, raising doubts

According to the minister, Rizvi failed to move the file, leaving the tender unprocessed.

Meanwhile, the old contractor continued supplying holograms for sealed liquor bottles, despite its contract having expired in June 2019.

The minister has called for rejecting Rizvi’s VRS and demanded legal and disciplinary action under Section 221 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for obstructing a public servant.

Meanwhile, the government placed M. Raghunandan Rao (IAS 2002), Commissioner, Commercial Taxes is placed in the FAC as Secretary to the Government, Revenue (Commercial Taxes & Excise) Department, consequent to the voluntary retirement of Syed Ali Murtaza Rizvion with effect from October 31, 2025.