Tomin Thachankary granted bail in disproportionate assets case
High Court suspends four-year jail sentence pending appeal
THE Kerala High Court has granted bail to former Director General of Police (DGP) Tomin J. Thachankary in a disproportionate assets case, suspending the four-year rigorous imprisonment sentence awarded by a Vigilance Court in Kottayam.
Justice A. Badharudeen passed the order on Thursday on Thachankary’s appeal challenging his conviction and sentence.
Thachankary was sent to prison on September 17 after the trial court found him guilty in the case. The court had also imposed a fine of ₹30.84 lakh. He secured relief from the High Court after spending approximately 28 days in jail.
The Vigilance case relates to the alleged accumulation of assets disproportionate to his known sources of income between January 1, 2003, and July 2007. The prosecution alleged that he possessed assets worth ₹64.70 lakh disproportionate to his known income.
In his appeal, Thachankary contended that the investigating agency had made errors in calculating his income and had failed to account for earnings from his wife's business, agriculture and land sales. He has sought the setting aside of his conviction.
The High Court's order suspends the prison sentence pending the appeal. The grant of bail does not amount to an acquittal, and the appeal against the conviction remains to be decided.
