The Madras High Court today sentenced former AIADMK minister V Sathyamoothy to five years' rigorous imprisonment in a disproportionate wealth case, setting aside a lower court order which had acquitted him.
Sathyamoorthy was minister for commercial taxes between 1993 and 1996 during J Jayalalithaa's first tenure as chief minister.
Justice G Jayachandran also sentenced Sathyamoorthy's wife to two years RI in the case and directed them to pay Rs 5 lakh each as fine, in default of which they would have to each undergo one-year simple imprisonment.
The judge was allowing an appeal by Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption, challenging the lower court order, which had acquitted the two in August 2000.
The judge said "Unfortunately, the trial court has projected whimsical reasons to discredit the prosecution witnesses. The trial court had invented a view which is totally impossible and perverse, based on the imagination and conjunctions for the sake of acquittal of the accused."
The prosecution's charge was Sathyamoorthy had amassed Rs 83.01 lakh in his name and that of his family members.
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Referring to the trial judge order, reducing the value of the assets by Rs 21 lakh from the total value, the judge said that contrary to documentary evidence, a vague explanation of the defence was accepted by the trial court with regard to sale consideration of the properties.
The court had in an 'arbitrary manner' reduced about Rs 21 lakh from the total value of assets, he said.
Referring to non-filing of Income Tax returns by the accused, the judge said that as per the code of conduct for ministers, Sathyamoorthy should have declared the assets he had acquired while in office,which he had not done.The returns were submitted subsequent to registration of an FIR, he noted.
The judge said the trial court had totally ignored the explanation related to Section 13(1)(e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
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