Kerala HC gives time to state to challenge Thachankary’s appeal against conviction in disproportionate assets case

The Kerala High Court has allowed the state government to oppose the appeal filed by former Director General of Police Tomin J. Thachankary against his conviction in the disproportionate assets case.

Justice A. Badharudeen observed that while the Penal Code provision did not provide for a written objection by the State if the sentence was less than ten years, such a procedure was not prohibited in cases of “extraordinary circumstances”.

On September 17, Mr. Thachankary was sentenced to four years’ rigorous imprisonment and fined ₹30.84 lakh. The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau had filed a chargesheet in the trial court, saying that Mr. Thachankary had acquired assets worth ₹64 lakh in addition to his declared sources of income, which were allegedly 135% higher.

In his appeal, Mr Thachankary argued that the prosecution had wrongly calculated his rental income, property income, payments made by his relatives and property acquired by his wife and that the Vigilance Court had failed to take into account his wife’s income from her commercial and agricultural properties. An appeal was made to suspend the sentence and will be heard again on September 24.

Published – 22 Sep 2026 21:05 IST