Kerala HC suspends 4-year jail term of former DGP in disproportionate assets case

The Kerala high court on Thursday suspended the four-year jail sentence awarded by a Vigilance court to former director general of police (DGP) Tomin J Thachankary in a disproportionate assets (DA) case.Thachankary, a 1987-batch Kerala-cadre Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, retired in 2023 as the DGP of Investigations at the State Human Rights Commission.“Prime facie, the finding of the learned Special judge could not be faulted in any manner. However, despite the objection raised by the State, this is a case in which the sentence imposed is only four years and in such view of the matter, the sentence can be suspended by imposing necessary conditions, in the interest of justice,” the high court bench of Justice A Badharudeen said.As part of the conditions imposed by the court, the former DGP has been directed to deposit 75% of the fine imposed on him.Thachankary, a 1987-batch Kerala-cadre Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, retired in 2023 as the DGP of Investigations at the State Human Rights Commission.The former DGP was convicted by a Vigilance court in Kottayam in September this year for amassing wealth disproportionate to his known sources of income between 2003 and 2007. It was the first time an officer of DGP rank had been found guilty in a DA case.He was awarded four years of rigorous imprisonment and fined ₹30.84 lakh.The Vigilance judge had said in the order, “The higher the public office held, greater is the obligation to maintain the highest standards of integrity and probity. The disproportion of ₹30,84,892.39, constituting 52.33% of the known income, is neither marginal nor insignificant. It represents the unexplained enrichment accumulated during the check period from 2003 to 2007, when the said amount had substantial value.”