State legislature employee gets 7-year jail term for misappropriation of funds

The court said, “He committed forgery, cheating, and criminal breach of trust under IPC,” and added that the state was not to show him any leniency

MUMBAI: A cashier at the state legislature was sentenced to seven years in jail on May 5 by a special court under the Prevention of Corruption Act, for misappropriation of government funds and for amassing a disproportionate amount of assets from March 1991 to December 2004.

The accused had acquired ₹19.24 lakh, which was 109.62% more than his known sources of income (Shutterstock)

An FIR had been registered against the accused, Manoj Gaonkar, in 2005 at the Marine Drive police station, and the anti-corruption bureau had taken over the case and revealed that he had acquired ₹19.24 lakh, which was 109.62% more than his known sources of income.

Gaonkar’s advocate contradicted the charges and claimed that there was no significant amount in his account. However, the prosecution examined 12 witnesses, including investigating officers and bank officials, and key evidence included salary records, loan statements, demat account transactions, and property purchase documents.

The court said, “The investigation was thorough, the computation was corroborated by official records, and testimonies were consistent.” Additional sessions judge Shahikant E Bangar held the accused guilty under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and said that despite being given multiple opportunities, he was unable to explain the extra assets in his possession.

The court said, “He committed forgery, cheating, and criminal breach of trust under IPC,” and added that the state was not to show him any leniency.

In 2018, Gaonkar was sentenced to five years in prison for siphoning off ₹63,000 from a member of the legislative council’s medical claim and misappropriating over ₹52.3 lakh from the state government funds in 2005. He had misappropriated money from the travel allowance of member of the legislative assembly, Anil Gote, by forging challans and making wrong entries in the cash book.