Bengaluru: According to sources, the Karnataka High Court has ruled that the death of the accused during the trial, before charges could be filed, will not result in the trial against the wife, who is a co-accused, being dismissed.
For the co-accused, who is charged with abetment under Section 109 of the IPC, Justice M. Nagaprasanna ruled that “abatement does not annihilate abetment.”
According to sources, V. M. Saraswathy moved the court questioning the order, after death of her husband, M. Selvakumar, who was the principal offender, that has been passed by the Special Judge to frame charges against her for the offence punishable under Section 13(1)(e), read with 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, in addition to the offence of abetment.
Hearing her plea, the court reversed the Special Court’s judgement that the petitioner be charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The court, on the other hand, decided to proceed with the abetment case against her.
The petitioner’s husband was accused of amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income while working as Deputy Director (Research), Training Center, Central Coffee Research Institute, Coffee Research Station, Balehonnur, Chikkamagaluru District.
Saraswathy was accused of assisting her husband in committing the crime of acquiring several movable and immovable properties in her name using illegal money. The CBI filed the chargesheet when the investigation was completed. The husband died on March 29, 2017, before the chargesheet could be filed and charges framed.
