VISAKHAPATNAM: A CBI special court in Visakhapatnam convicted a retired Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise and Customs and his wife in a 13-year-old disproportionate assets case.
Principal Special Judge for CBI Cases, Visakhapatnam, CN Murthy sentenced former Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise and Customs, Kakinada in East Godavari district, Rayabharapu Venkata Lakshmi Narasimha Rao, and his wife, Rayabharapu Gowri Ratnam, to three years of simple imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs two lakh.
It was alleged that during the check period from July 2007 to August 2011, RVL Narasimha Rao (A1) (IRS officer), while working as a public servant with the Department of Customs, was in possession of movable and immovable properties in his name and in the name of his wife, disproportionate to his known sources of income to the tune of Rs31.2 lakh.
The CBI officials noticed that the amassed illegal assets were around 72 per cent of the disproportionate assets, which he could not satisfactorily account for. R Gowri Ratnam (A2) abetted the commission of the main offence (of acquiring assets disproportionate to known sources of income) by allowing her husband, RVL Narasimha Rao (A1), to acquire assets in her name beyond her pecuniary resources.
After the completion of the trial, the court convicted the accused for the offences under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
In the Attachment Petition filed by CBI, the judge ordered CBI to initiate appropriate proceedings for the confiscation of the properties, which is equal to the disproportionate assets of Rs27.57 lakh in terms of section 13 of the Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance, 1944.
