Gujarat court sentences ex-central excise official to 5-year rigorous imprisonment in DA case

The court also ordered confiscation of cash and jewellery seized during searches at premises linked to him during investigation of the case.

Ahmedabad: A special CBI court here on Tuesday sentenced a former superintendent of Central Excise and Customs to five years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a Rs 20 lakh fine after finding him guilty in a disproportionate assets (DA) case.

The court also ordered confiscation of cash and jewellery seized during searches at premises linked to him during investigation of the case.

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Accused Fauza Singh Pandher, then-posted at Central Excise and Customs of Daman Commissionerate at Vapi in Valsad district, was booked on June 30, 2005, after hewas found possessing disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 13.6 lakh, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said in a release.

The central agency unearthed disproportionate assets in his possession during searches carried out between January 1, 2000 and May 3, 2005, it said.

After investigation, a chargesheet was filed against him in a special court here on August 31, 2006, the release said.

The trial court convicted Pandher and asked him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for five years and pay a fine of Rs 20 lakh, it said.

Pandher was in December 2019 sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 5,000 by a court in Ahmedabad in a separate case where he was arrested by the CBI while accepting Rs 30,000 as a bribe, said the release.

In searches that followed, various documents regarding investments made by him in his name as well as those of his family members were found along with other assets.