In a big relief to former DGP Tomin J Thachankary, the Kerala High Court has granted him bail as well as suspended his four-year rigorous imprisonment sentence in a disproportionate assets case.
Justice A Badharudeen issued the order on an application moved by Thachankary.
The former DGP had been sentenced to four years’ imprisonment and fined Rs 30.84 lakh by the inquiry commissioner and special judge (vigilance), Kottayam, for allegedly amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
But the bail has been granted with stringent conditions. The court imposed a special condition requiring Thachankary to deposit 75% of the fine amount (over Rs 23 lakh) before the special court before executing a bail bond of Rs 5 lakh with two solvent sureties each. The court clarified that the bail bond would not be accepted until the 75% deposit was made.
Besides, he has also been barred from leaving the country without permission and directed not to get involved in any other criminal cases.
The Kottayam-based Vigilance Special Court had sentenced Thachankary on Sept 17 in the assets case following allegations that he had amassed wealth while serving as a senior police officer between Jan 1, 2003, and July 4, 2007.
Thachankary has been in jail since then. In his appeal challenging the conviction, Thachankary contended that the evidence presented by the prosecution was insufficient to convict him and hence sought suspension of his sentence and release on bail.
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