Vigilance court awards 2-yr RI to IFS officer in DA case

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Jun 29:

The Special Vigilance Court in the Odisha capital today sentenced former Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer and the then District Forest Officer (DFO) of Kuchinda Forest division Laxmidhara Bhoi to two-year rigorous imprisonment (RI) in a disproportionate asset (DA) case.

In addition to that the court has imposed a fine of Rs 3 lakh on Bhoi, on failure to deposit the fine he would be required to undergo RI for an additional period of six months, the court ruled in its order.

In 1997, the Vigilance had raided Bhoi’s house and had claimed to have found evidence of disproportionate asset amounting to Rs 11, 87,000.

“Based on a complaint of disproportionate asset case, the Vigilance had conducted a search and had filed a charge sheet then stating that he had disproportionate asset amounting to Rs 11, 87,000. Special Court of Balakrushna Mohapatra while conducting a hearing in the case found evidence of disproportionate asset value of Rs 8, 06,422 and sentenced him to two years of RI with a fine of Rs 3 lakh. The court has ordered that on failure to pay the fine he has to undergo another six months of RI,” said Sunil Pati, public prosecutor, Special Vigilance Court.