LP Tewari convicted in disproportionate assets case, sentenced to One year imprisonment

GANGTOK, 26 Dec: Former Secretary-cum-Chief Engineer Laxmi Prasad Tewari has been convicted by the Special Court on charges of accumulating assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. He has been sentenced to one year imprisonment and fined Rs.10,000; and in case of default in payment of fine, undergo six more months of simple imprisonment.
The designated Special Judge East and North under Prevention of Corruption Act 1988, Meenakshi Madan Rai, pronounced the judgment in an open court on 24 December convicting him under section 13(1)(e) of Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 corresponding to the section 5(1)(e) of P C Act 1947.
The former Power Secretary was later released on bail pending his appeal in the High Court.
The judgment records that that during the check period [from 01 April 1986 to 31 March 1997], Mr. Tewari acquired movable and immoveable assets worth Rs. 54,18,182 and an expenditure of Rs. 8,79,118. At the beginning of the check period, Mr. Tewari had assets worth of Rs. 1,13,152.
The court found him guilty of misusing his position and acquiring wealth to the tune of Rs. 21,78,875 disproportionate to his official sources of income.
The Special Judge, in her judgment, observed “… in the consideration of entire evidence and documents on record, the court has found that the prosecution has proved their case beyond the reasonable doubt against the accused person under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988”.
Initially, the accused was not charged under the section 5(2) of the PC Act 1947 read with section 5(1)(e)  and after hearing the parties, the Court had amended the charges invoking section 216 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. During the course of the trial, the court examined 36 witnesses including the Investigating Officer and documents on record.
It may be mentioned here that Mr. Tewari was dismissed from office on 30 October 1998.