Bhubaneswar: Challenging the Vigilance court’s order denying him bail in connection with disproportionate assets case, suspended IFS officer Abhay Kant Pathak on Friday knocked the doors of Orissa High Court over the matter.
The move comes after rejection of his bail application at a Vigilance Court following arrest on November 27. Both Pathak and his son Akash were arrested on the same day.
The court of the Special Judge, Vigilance, Bhubaneswar has remanded the father-son duo to judicial custody till December 9.
While Pathak, who was serving as the Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), Plan, Program and Afforestation, was arrested by the Vigilance department on the charges of acquisition of assets disproportionate to his know sources of income, his son was put under arrest by the Crime Branch on the charges of cheating, impersonation and forgery.
A case under several sections of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018, has been registered against both of them.
The 1987 batch IFS officer was found in possession of disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 9.35 crore beyond his known sources of income. This amount was about 435% of the total income from all his known sources, an official statement said.
The vigilance sleuths had conducted simultaneous searches in Bhubaneswar, Mumbai and Pune and one place in Bihar on November 25 and 26 on the strength of search warrants issued by Court of Special Judge, Vigilance, Bhubaneswar.
(Edited By Suryakant Jena)