Hyderabad, Oct 23 : Senior Telangana IAS officer Syed Ali Murtaza Rizvi has taken voluntary retirement after differences with Excise Minister Jupally Krishna Rao over high-security liquor hologram tenders.

Rizvi, who was Principal Secretary, Commercial Tax and Excise, took voluntary retirement on Wednesday. Known for his integrity, the officer cited personal reasons for seeking voluntary retirement.

The state government notified the same and placed M. Raghunandan Rao, Commissioner, Commercial Taxes, in the full additional charge as Secretary, Revenue (Commercial Taxes & Excise) Department.

A letter written by Jupally Krishna Rao to the Chief Secretary on Wednesday, urging him to reject Rizvi's application for voluntary retirement in view of the alleged "grave misconduct", surfaced on Thursday.

The minister cited the earlier letter written by him, disclosing what he called acts of the IAS officer constituting grave misconduct and those attracting criminal liability. "It is learnt that the above Member of Indian Administrative Service has applied for Voluntary Retirement from service. In view of the alleged grave misconduct, please take steps to ensure that the said VR Application is rejects (sic) and not approved by the competent authority," reads the letter.

Krishna Rao had accused Rizvi of deliberately delaying the tender process for high-security holograms affixed to sealed liquor bottles. The IAS officer has thus allowed an old vendor to continue.

The hologram carried a barcode and an IT-based tracking system that helps in preventing illegal liquor trade, counterfeit bottles and excise tax evasion. The Excise Department, with the help of the hologram, can trace every bottle from the distillery to the retail outlet.

The Excise Minister claimed that he had been writing to the IAS officer since August last year to speed up the process of tenders. In September, Rizvi proposed reconstituting the Expert Committee for the tender process, removing himself as the Chairman. The minister rejected the proposal, but Rizvi sent the file to the Chief Minister, bypassing the minister.

A total of 23 companies had submitted bids by April 2025, but the tender process did not move forward. Amid the stalemate, Rizvi applied for voluntary retirement.

Meanwhile, the main opposition party Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has alleged that IAS and IPS officers are taking voluntary retirement because of harassment by the Congress government.

BRS Working President K.T. Rama Rao said on Thursday that the officials were refusing to be a part of the conflict among ministers over sharing the corruption money.

He said that Minister Krishna Rao is so angry with IAS officer Rizvi for not obeying his orders that he wants the application for voluntary retirement to be rejected.

Rama Rao said officers knew that if they became partners in the anarchy and irregularities being committed by the Congress party, then they would have to go to jail like some officers in the past.

/IANS