Thachankary moves Kerala High Court against assets case conviction

Former Director General of Police Tomin J. Thachankary has moved the Kerala High Court, appealing against a Vigilance Court order that convicted him in a disproportionate assets case.

The appeal, filed on Friday, challenges the trial court's findings on how his income and expenditure were computed. Mr. Thachankary contends that the prosecution miscalculated his rental income, property income, payments made by his relatives, and properties acquired by his wife.

He argues that the trial court overlooked his revised income tax returns and failed to take into account his wife's earnings from her business and agricultural properties. According to him, the court did not assess the actual income he received during the investigation period, while counting expenditure that was never actually incurred.

Mr. Thachankary further submits that the trial court ought to have noted that the income tax assessment was completed after the crime was registered.

The Vigilance Court had, on September 17, sentenced him to four years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹30.84 lakh. The chargesheet filed by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau had alleged that he acquired assets worth ₹64 lakh beyond his declared sources of income.

A Single Bench of Justice A. Badharudeen is scheduled to consider the plea on September 22.