E-Paper
I-T officer in assets mess points to ‘dacoit’ grandpa
The grandfather-in-law was a plundering dacoit. The grandson-in-law is a senior income tax officer caught in corruption charges for amassing wealth way above his income.
The grandfather-in-law was a plundering dacoit. The grandson-in-law is a senior income tax officer caught in corruption charges for amassing wealth way above his income.
I-T joint commissioner Ram Avtar Verma saw an escape route in his wife’s ancestor’s unenviable past in a long-drawn court case after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested him in June 2002.
He declared that wife Sushila’s grandfather was a robber and gave her 80 tolas of gold (on tola is 11.663 grams) worth Rs 24 lakh now as a wedding gift.
The officer, now posted in Indore, swore by his confession. “Dacoits used to exist 40 years ago. What evidence can there be? Yes, he was a traditional dacoit,” he said.
People usually hide such shady ancestral history but Verma thinks a gun-toting “daku” and his plunder can save him the embarrassment, and his wealth.
“Accused in a disproportionate assets case usually tries to enlist sources of income. But a dacoit as a source of income is unprecedented. It is not only strange and unverifiable but is also an illegal source,” a senior Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officer said.
The I-T officer was in Jaipur then, when the CBI framed charges against him, wife Sushila, his brother-in-law and another relative. The investigating agency found they held 383% more assets, movable and immovable, than their known sources of income.
He moved a CBI court in Jaipur in February, seeking quashing of the charge sheet. He argues that prosecution sanction against him was “illegal”. But the CBI and other investigating agencies called Verma’s excuse “bizarre and unverifiable”.
“The explanations/arguments (given by accused) are apparently self-serving and unacceptable,” said an investigation report, commenting on the officer’s dacoit gold.
The CBI report rebutted “explanations and defence” of the accused.
