BENGALURU: The Lokayukta Special Court on Monday convicted a former General Manager of Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Ltd (KS&DL) imposing four years simple imprisonment and a fine of `3 crore on him.The convicted official is G S Bhat, retired GM (Finance) KS&DL, Bengaluru.
The conviction came 14 years after the Lokayukta police raided the premises of Bhat. He was found to possess assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
The Special Court Judge Sachin Kaushik convicted Bhat. In default of fine, Bhat has to undergo 18 months simple imprisonment, the judge added.According to the judgment, Bhat was convicted for possessing disproportionate assets (DA) to his known source of income. He was found with `1.60 crore DA which is 123.08% more than his known sources of income. The fine imposed is nearly double the DA he possessed.
After the raid on his house in 2004 at Vijayanagar here, city wing of the Karnataka Lokayukta police filed chargesheet against Bhat in 2009 under Section 13(1)(e) and 13 (1)(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Special Public Prosecutor Mohan Tankasali said the court convicted Bhat after charges of DA were proved against him during trial. Bhat is a native of Kumta in Uttara Kannada district. Basically, a Chartered Accountant, he joined KS&DL as Accounts Officer in 1982. After three years, he was promoted as Deputy Manager and became Manager in 1992. Finally, he was promoted as GM.
In the chargesheet, the income from all the sources of Bhat showed as `1.99 crore, his total assets value was `1.33 crore and expenditure was `1.40 crore. Finally, police have arrived to the conclusion that he was found with 1.60 crs DA.However, Bhat contended that, while showing his income, the investigating official had omitted some incomes sources and erroneously overstated assets and expenditure.