The offence of possessing assets disproportionate to the known sources of income is defined under clause (e) of Section 13(1) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, which is reproduced below:
“13. Criminal misconduct by a public servant.—(1) A public servant is said to commit the offence of criminal misconduct,—
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(e) if he or any person on his behalf, is in possession or has, at any time during the period of his office, been in possession for which the public servant cannot satisfactorily account, of pecuniary resources or property disproportionate to his known sources of income.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this section, “known sources of income” means income received from any lawful source and such receipt has been intimated in accordance with the provisions of any law, rules or orders for the time being applicable to a public servant.”
It is clear from the above provisions that even if a public servant has, at any time during period of his office, been in possession of assets, etc., subject to other conditions of the said provision, the offence under Section 13(1)(e) of the said Act is made out.
Therefore, if the retired senior government officer, referred to by you, was in possession of disproportionate assets at any time during his service, the said offence is made out against him.
It is also noteworthy that the above offence is punishable with a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment. Therefore, there is no limitation period for taking of cognizance in such offence. Accordingly, even though he retired one year back, if the offence of disproportionate assets was committed by him at any time during his service, such offence can still be registered even after his retirement.
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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