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Mohali court awards former tehsildar gets five-year jail in 2011 disproportionate assets case
The court also imposed a fine of ₹5,000 on the convict, who had been serving as a tehsildar in Fatehgarh Sahib when the Vigilance Bureau arrested him
The court of an additional district and session judge on Friday awarded a five-year rigorous imprisonment (RI) sentence for retired tehsildar, Ajit Singh Longia, in a disproportionate assets (DA) case filed against him in 2011.
The court also imposed a fine of ₹5,000 on Longia. He had been serving as a tehsildar in Fatehgarh Sahib when the Vigilance Bureau arrested him.
Longia, who had been out on bail, was convicted on November 22. He was apprehended from his residence in Mohali on the same day and subsequently sent to Ropar jail on Friday.
During the state’s presentation, additional district attorney Manjit Singh stated that the vigilance inquiry had established Longia’s earnings to be ₹42.32 lakh from January 1, 2002, to December 31, 2006. However, it was revealed that he had actually amassed ₹54.7 lakh during the period, exceeding his legitimate income by ₹12.35 lakh.
Vigilance further discovered that Longia, during the time frame, had acquired 500 acres of land registered in son Gurinderjit Singh’s name. Additionally, he purchased a shop in Mataur village and acquired a piece of land measuring 8 bigha-2 biswa in Khanpur village.
Apart from the real estate transactions, Longia also bought a pistol worth ₹1.5 lakh and a 12-bore rifle in 2006. Vigilance uncovered various bank accounts registered in the names of Longia and his family members. The accounts were sealed after money recovered from them and associated lockers was seized.
After considering arguments from both defence and prosecution, the court held Longia guilty of accumulating wealth beyond his declared income and subsequently convicted him.
