An Ahmedabad court convicts the wife of a former Income Tax Officer in a long-standing disproportionate assets case, highlighting ongoing efforts to combat corruption and financial crimes in India.
Key Points
- Jasodaben Vadadia, wife of a former Income Tax Officer, has been sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment in a disproportionate assets case.
- The case, registered in 2007, involved Rameshbhai Vadadia, who was accused of amassing assets disproportionate to his income.
- Rameshbhai Vadadia passed away during the trial, leading to the case against him being dropped.
- Jasodaben Vadadia was found guilty of abetting her husband in acquiring disproportionate assets.
- The court also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on Jasodaben Vadadia.
A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Ahmedabad on Monday convicted and sentenced the wife of a former Income Tax Officer to rigorous imprisonment (RI) of two years in a disproportionate assets (DA) case dating back nearly 19 years ago.
Convict Jasodaben Vadadia's husband, Rameshbhai Vadadia, was also an accused in the case, but he died during pendency of trial.
The special court sentenced Jasodaben Vadadia, accused of abetting her husband in accumulating disproportionate assets, to two-year RI and also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 fine on her in the case registered on June 30, 2007, the CBI said in a release.
Rameshbhai Vadadia, then-posted at the office of the Additional Commissioner of Income Tax, Gandhinagar, was accused of amassing assets disproportionate to the tune of Rs 29,49,977 between January 1, 2002 and April 30, 2007, which was 247 per cent of his known sources of income, said the release.
After completing investigation, the CBI filed a chargesheet on December 24, 2008, against the then-I-T officer and his wife Jashodaben Vadadia for amassing disproportionate assets worth Rs 25,46,398, which were 133.98 per cent of their known source of income, it said.
Ramesh Vadadia passed away during the trial, and the case against him was abated by the court, but his wife was found guilty of abetment in the corruption offence.
Court's Decision and CBI Statement
"The court found merit in the charges and held the accused Jasodaben Rameshbhai Vadadia guilty of abetting her husband for acquiring assets disproportionate to their known sources of income and accordingly convicted her for the abetment of the offence in the disproportionate assets (DA) case. The Hon'ble Court, after the trial, convicted and sentenced the accused accordingly," the CBI said.
