TIRUNELVELI: A special court handling cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act on Tuesday sentenced a retired deputy excise officer to eight years of imprisonment and his wife to four years for demanding Rs 25,000 from the MD of a private company in 2006 and amassing wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income.
G Jayabalan (74), former deputy excise officer of Nanguneri taluk, was convicted in both corruption and disproportionate assets (DA) cases, while his wife J Gomathi Jayam was found guilty in the latter case. Special Judge R Subbiah ordered Jayabalan to undergo the two terms concurrently.
According to the prosecution, Jayabalan demanded Rs 25,000 from the managing director of a private firm operating at Thalapathi Samuthiram for revising the firm's tax assessment. Acting on a complaint filed by the MD V Ashok Kumar, the DVAC laid a trap and arrested Jayabalan.
Subsequently, searches were conducted at Jayabalan's residence and officers found the couple had amassed assets disproportionate to his known source of income. For this, a separate case was filed against the couple.
After a prolonged trial, the court on Tuesday sentenced Jayabalan and also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 in the bribe case. In the DA case, besides the jail term, Jayabalan was penalised Rs 50,000 and Gomathi Rs 10,000. The couple has been lodged in Palayamkottai Central Prison.