CHENNAI: A former Kallakurichi court staff was sentenced to 37 years in prison for misappropriating Rs 38 lakh from Motor Accident Claims cases and forging court records. Arivuselvi (A1), who worked as a sheristadar assistant at the court, was also fined Rs 30,000 by the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court at Kallakurichi. Her sentence will run consecutively.
Her son Varadharajan (A2) and associate Tamilarasan (A3) were each sentenced to 27 years in prison, with their sentences to run consecutively, and fined Rs 17,000 each. Another accused, Senthilkumar, was acquitted as the charges against him were not proved beyond reasonable doubt.
The case was registered by CB-CID, Villupuram, on December 18, 2021, following an inspection ordered by the Madras High Court.
The then Principal Subordinate Judge Sureshkumar found suspicious signatures and irregularities in Motor Accident Claims records disposed of in 2012 and 2014.
The investigations revealed Arivuselvi, who worked at the court from 2012 to 2015, reused settled case numbers, diverted compensation to bank accounts linked to Varadharajan and Tamilarasan, and forged judges’ signatures on cheques. While Rs 28 lakh was initially detected as misappropriated, another Rs 10 lakh was later uncovered.
