Ahmedabad, Dec 30 A special CBI court in Ahmedabad has sentenced a then-officer of the Kandla Special Economic Zone (KASEZ) in Gujarat to five-years rigorous imprisonment (RI) in a 2013 disproportionate assets (DA) case and also imposed a fine of Rs 63 lakh on him.
The convict, Kaushik Anvantrai Karelia, then-appraiser/preventive officer of Kandla SEZ, at present works as inspector, Central Excise and Service Tax, Bhavnagar.
The court on Monday also sentenced Karelia's wife to one-year imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 on her for abetment of the offence in the case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said.
The court convicted and sentenced Karelia and his wife Pooja in the case that was registered on September 30, 2013.
As per the CBI, Karelia, between September 1, 2008 and March 31, 2008, amassed assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. The then-SEZ officer had amassed assets to the tune of Rs 19,86,661 which was 130 per cent in excess to his known sources of income.
"During investigation, the check period was revised from April 1, 2004 to March 20, 2013. After the investigation, the CBI filed a chargesheet on September 3, 2014, against the accused for amassing assets to the tune of Rs 57,60,729.15 which were disproportionate to their (Karelia and his wife) known sources of income. These assets were 183.57 per cent in excess to their known sources of income," said the central agency.
The special court, after trial, convicted and sentenced the accused persons accordingly, it said.
