Considering one-third of the gross salary as the minimum living expenses on food and clothing, etc., which could not be otherwise verified, started with the judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of Sajjan Singh v. State of Punjab, AIR 1964 SC 464 at p. 471 : (1964) 4 SCR 630 : (1964) 1 Cri LJ 310. In that case, the total receipts by the accused from his known sources of income appeared to be about Rs. 1,03,000/-. The Supreme Court held that one cannot live on nothing; and however frugally the accused might have lived it appeared to be clear that at least Rs. 100/- per month must have been his average expenses throughout the relevant years taking the years of high prices and low prices together. These expenses therefore cut out a big slice of over Rs. 36,000/- from what he received. Thus, while no general principle was laid down by the Supreme Court regarding the extent of the expenses of the accused to be considered, on the facts of the case, the expenses were considered to be approximately one-third of the total income of the accused.
It is not possible to get invoices for money spent on food, etc., some 20 or 30 years back. But, as Supreme Court pointed out, one cannot live on nothing. Accordingly, after this case, CBI and the State ACB’s have been considering one-third of the gross salary of the public servant as his basic expenses on food items, etc., during the period under consideration, which can otherwise be not verified. This formula has been used in a large number of disproportionate assets cases and the courts have generally accepted this formula.
Other verifiable expenses, such as on electricity, gas, petrol, education, insurance, etc., are considered separately based on the actual receipts or actual usage.
[Note: Some contents in this reply are taken from my book: Prevention of Corruption Act, Second Edition (2009), appx. 2250 pages, published by LexisNexis Butterworths, New Delhi (ISBN: 978-81-8038-592-6)].
Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.
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