BENGALURU: In a decade-old rare case of disproportionate assets (DA), in which the court’s assessment found that the assets involved exceeded what was calculated by the investigating officer (IO), the Special Court for Lokayukta Cases sentenced on January 23 former joint commissioner of excise S Srinivasamurthy to three years of simple imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1.34 crore.
Judge Prakash Nayak said Srinivasamurthy possessed Rs 1.34 crore worth of DA, instead of Rs 1.22 crore calculated by the IO of Karnataka Lokayukta.
Srinivasamurthy joined the excise department as a stenographer in 1978 and retired as joint commissioner in 2017. The Lokayukta police registered the case against Srinivasamurthy in 2014 for allegedly possessing assets disproportionate to his known source of income during the period between 1978 and 2014.
Judge Nayak said that according to the calculation made by the court based on the evidence on record, the assets plus expenditure of the accused and his family members during the period under investi-gation is Rs 3.59 crore, whereas the income of the accused and his family members during the same period is Rs 2.25 crore, and hence, the DA is Rs 1.34 crore.
The special court further stated that the prosecution, beyond reasonable doubt, succeeded in proving the fact that the accused possessed property or resources which are disproportionate to the known sources of income and failed to satisfactorily account for it.
“Hence, on overall analysis of evidence on record, this court holds that during the check period the accused was found in possession of property worth Rs. 1.34 crore disproportionate to his known source of income. Hence, the court holds that the accused has committed an offence defined under Section 13 (1) (e) punishable under Section 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act,” said the ruling.