Kochi, Sep 18 Former DGP Tomin J Thachankary on Friday approached the Keralam High Court challenging his conviction and four-year sentence in a disproportionate assets case.
The Vigilance Court on Thursday sentenced Thachankary to four years' rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 30.84 lakh in the disproportionate assets case.
In his petition, Thachankary said the FIR registered by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau initially covered assets allegedly amassed between January 1, 2003, and March 1, 2005, and was subsequently extended to July 4, 2007.
Searches were conducted at various premises on July 4, 2007, and documents were seized, the petition said.
After the investigation, a final report was filed, and the case was subsequently transferred between Vigilance courts before being taken up by the Vigilance Court in Kottayam in 2020.
The petition said the state government subsequently ordered a further investigation after Thachankary complained that several items of income belonging to him had not been considered and that there were errors in the calculations made by the investigating officer.
The High Court later quashed the government's order for further investigation, holding that the government could not order such a probe. However, it permitted the investigating agency to use evidence collected during the further investigation, the appeal said.
Thachankary alleged in his petition that none of those documents was produced before the trial court despite his application under Rule 19(4) of the Kerala Criminal Rules of Practice.
He said he had denied the incriminating circumstances when questioned under Section 313 of the CrPC during the trial and had submitted a further statement explaining what he claimed were errors in the calculations and the circumstances in which he was falsely implicated.
Thachankary has contended in the appeal that the conviction is unsustainable and illegal, alleging gross misappreciation of the evidence and reliance on erroneous calculations made by the investigating officers.
