Telangana IAS Officer Seeks Early Retirement Amid Controversy Over Rs 100 Crore Liquor Hologram Tender

Senior IAS officer Syed Ali Murtaza Rizvi has applied for voluntary retirement (VRS) with eight years of service remaining, creating a stir in Telangana's administrative and political circles.

While Rizvi has not publicly stated his reasons for leaving, sources within the government indicate that escalating tensions between him and Excise Minister Jupally Krishna Rao contributed significantly to his decision.

The conflict reportedly centers around a High-Security Hologram tender, which is essential for tracking and authenticating liquor bottles throughout Telangana state.

A recently surfaced letter from Minister Jupally Krishna Rao to Chief Secretary K Rama Krishna Rao reveals serious allegations against Rizvi. The Minister claimed that Rizvi deliberately delayed the tender process for the Rs 100 crore High-Security Holograms project, allowing an existing vendor whose contract expired in June 2019 to continue supplying holograms without competitive bidding for over six years.

In his letter, the Minister recommended rejecting Rizvi's VRS application and initiating both disciplinary and legal proceedings against him.

Rizvi, a 2001-batch IAS officer respected for his administrative capabilities, experienced four transfers within a two-year period following Congress's assumption of power from the BRS party.

Government sources suggest that these frequent reassignments and persistent pressure from ministers ultimately drove Rizvi to seek early retirement.

Despite the allegations of impropriety, the Telangana government has accepted Rizvi's voluntary retirement request, effective October 31, 2025.

On Wednesday, an official order appointed M Raghunandan Rao, IAS (2002), Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, to take Full Additional Charge (FAC) as Secretary to Government, Revenue (Commercial Taxes & Excise), replacing Rizvi.