CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has quashed criminal proceedings initiated against the wife of a principal accused in a more than two-decade-old disproportionate assets case, while ruling that mechanically implicating spouses in such cases is an abuse of the process of law.
The state Vigilance had registered a case against Chittaranjan Senapati, a junior motor vehicle inspector (MVI), in 2004 under the Prevention of Corruption Act after inquiring into allegations of acquiring disproportionate assets.
Charge sheet was filed with Senapati as principal accused and inquiry was completed with findings indicating that he had allegedly accumulated assets to the tune of Rs 29.65 lakh which is disproportionate to all his known sources of income.
In the same year, the Vigilance implicated his wife Sasmita Pradhan as an abettor in the case. In 2024, Sasmita filed in the high court a petition challenging the criminal proceedings against her in the trial court.
While considering Sasmita’s plea, the single judge bench of Justice AK Mohapatra observed, “More often than not, the Vigilance department mechanically adds spouses or dependants, who are mere name lenders, to acquire the property. Most of the times it is because of the relationship, trust or love and affection without there being any intention to participate in the crime. It has become a regular practice to add such dependants without even conducting a preliminary enquiry with regard to their conduct and role in the alleged crime.”
“Arraying the spouse, who is a housewife, in the absence of any specific material with regard to her involvement in the crime would be an abuse of the process of law,” Justice Mohapatra ruled and quashed criminal proceeding against the petitioner.
Taking note that no charge has been framed and no trial has commenced till date in the case after more than two decades, he also directed that the trial in respect of the other accused should be completed as expeditiously as possible.