85-year-old ex-forest officer gets 3-year RI in 3-decade old corruption case

Cuttack, Jan 16 (PTI) An 85-year-old retired forest officer was on Friday sentenced to rigorous imprisonment (RI) for three years after a special vigilance court in Bhubaneswar convicted him in a 30-year-old disproportionate assets (DA) case.

Suresh Chandra Rath, former assistant conservator of forests (ACF) of Puri Divisional Forest Office, was found guilty under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, for possessing assets beyond his known sources of income, an official release issued by the anti-corruption vigilance wing under Odisha Police said.

Special Judge Himanshu Shekhar Mallick also imposed a fine of Rs1 lakh on the convicted retired forest officer.

Rath began his career as a forester in 1969 and went on to retire as an ACF in 1999. The vigilance case against him was registered in 1996, while he was still in service, following an inquiry which revealed that he had accumulated disproportionate assets valued at over Rs 11 lakh at the time, a substantial amount three decades ago.

After a detailed investigation, Odisha Vigilance charge-sheeted Rath under Section 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, alleging that he failed to satisfactorily explain the sources of the assets detected during the probe.

The case proceeded to trial, culminating in the conviction and sentence pronounced on Friday.

The sentencing of the octogenarian officer has drawn attention due to his advanced age, as the special court awarded him rigorous imprisonment despite the long passage of time since the offence and his retirement from service in the year 1999.

Following the conviction, Odisha Vigilance is now contemplating moving the competent authorities for the stoppage of Rath’s pension, according to a press release issued by the Vigilance Directorate here. PTI COR AAM AAM MNB