How a corruption case against an engineer failed due to incorrect classification

A corruption case against a railway engineer and his wife collapsed after the CBI misclassified a sentimental gift as financial assets due to an investigative error. The error, which involved an inheritance property gifted to their son, ultimately led to their acquittal as the court found that the CBI failed to prove that the couple's assets exceeded their income.

Justice S. Ezhil Velavan pointed out serious flaws in the investigation against KSSVP Murthy Raju, a deputy chief engineer of the railways, and his wife K. Pushpavalli. In the case, which spanned over a decade, the couple were accused of possessing disproportionate assets totalling Rs 546,000 crore.

The CBI meticulously examined the couple's finances, searching through salary slips, property deeds, bank accounts and personal gifts. At the heart of the entire investigation was a property gift worth Rs 92,900 given by a relative to their 10-year-old son Sushanth.

This gift was not a financial gain but a sentimental gift to secure Sushanth's future. However, the CBI wrongly classified it as a significant financial transaction and added it to the list of assets that the couple allegedly could not explain.

This misclassification resulted in the couple's supposed wealth being inflated, leading to allegations of corruption. The inclusion of this property as disproportionate assets made the case appear larger than it actually was.

Other errors by the CBI included overvaluation of assets like a gold chain worth Rs 100,000 and miscalculation of cash and investments like Rs 640,000 in a finance firm and Rs 220,000 in a locker. The CBI also wrongly included gold jewellery and legitimate investments worth Rs 35,500 as disproportionate assets as it had not properly verified the records. The defence exposed these errors and proved that the property gifted to Sushanth was a non-financial transfer which was wrongly classified as a disproportionate asset. As a result, the court acquitted Raju and Pushpavalli of all charges, bringing an end to the decade-long case.