Mumbai: A special court on Thursday convicted and sentenced a 56-year-old dismissed Vidhan Bhavan cashier to seven years of rigorous imprisonment for committing criminal misconduct and amassing assets worth Rs 15.95 lakh — over 100% disproportionate to his known sources of income between 1991 and 2004. During this period, the accused, Manoj Gaonkar, earned a total of Rs 14.75 lakh. His properties included domestic articles valued at Rs 1.5 lakh, a flat each at Borivli and Mira Road, and a farmhouse in Talegaon, Pune district.Gaonkar was also fined Rs 50,000.In a 143-page judgement, special judge Shashikant Eknathrao Bangar said, “The accused was a public servant, he held assets disproportionate to his known income during the check period. He failed to satisfactorily account for them, he committed criminal misconduct under the Prevention of Corruption Act. He committed forgery, cheating, and criminal breach of trust under IPC.” In 2018, Gaonkar was convicted and sentenced to five years’ simple imprisonment for siphoning off Rs 63,000 from an MLC’s medical claim and misappropriating over Rs 52.3 lakh from the state govt funds — collectively Rs 53 lakh — in 2005. The sentence in the 2005 case is suspended pending an appeal Gaonkar filed in the sessions court. The order for forfeiting the properties amassed illegally is also stayed.On March 15, 2005, the pay and accounts department of Mantralaya lodged a police complaint after an audit found that Gaonkar deposited only Rs 7,000 in the state govt’s account in the RBI but submitted a forged receipt showing he deposited Rs 70,000 and even produced a cash book. It was alleged that the money belonged to then MLC Anil Gote’s medical entitlement. During the same period, a departmental inquiry was initiated against Gaonkar, and it was found that he misappropriated another Rs 52.3 lakh, including Rs 10 lakh from the Rs 30 lakh that Parliament gave the state govt for a conference. Hence, the first FIR was lodged in 2005, and Gaonkar was subsequently charged.In 2009, a second case, a disproportionate assets case, was registered against him after it was found that he bought several properties with the misappropriated funds. This included a flat in Chikoowadi in Borivli then valued at Rs 13 lakh, a flat in Mira Road then valued at Rs 4 lakh, and a farmhouse in Talegaon then valued at Rs 3 lakh.In the disproportionate assets case, seeking stringent punishment, public prosecutor Prabhakar Tarange submitted that corruption cases are on the rise and are rarely detected and noticed for being brought to book. The judge said that the offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act are required to be dealt with a stringent view as per the observations of the Supreme Court. “…[T]he mitigating circumstances do not outweigh the aggravating circumstances against the accused, and there appears no reasonable justification for taking a lenient view while sentencing.“Relying on the deposition of the investigating officer, the judge noted that the investigation was detailed, trustworthy, and offered meticulous insight into disproportionate assets. “His findings, coupled with contemporaneous records and witness statements, establish prima facie evidence of the accused possessing property beyond his known lawful income. The prosecution’s case stands substantially corroborated, and the deposition lays a strong foundation for further adjudication,” the judge said.
