The Kerala High Court has upheld the conviction and sentence of rigorous imprisonment awarded by the Thiruvananthapuram Vigilance Special Court to a former clerk in the Directorate of Higher Secondary Education, Thiruvananthapuram, for misappropriation of money.
The prosecution case was that Enose, an LD clerk on deputation at the directorate in 1998, had misappropriated ₹74,789 entrusted to him for depositing in the treasury. He retained it till 2002 by making a false entry in the cash book so as to appear that the amount was remitted in the treasury in 1998 itself. He had also forged a challan and used the same as genuine with the dishonest intention of causing loss to the State exchequer. He was sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for one year and to pay a fine of ₹1,000 by the Vigilance court.
Special Public Prosecutor for Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) A. Rajesh submitted that the prosecution had succeeded in proving the case beyond reasonable doubt
Dismissing the appeal filed by the accused recently, the court observed that the fraudulent intention of the accused could be inferred from the attending circumstances. He misused his official position as a public servant and misappropriated the amount entrusted with him. The Vigilance court had appreciated the evidence on record in the correct perspective and rightly found that the prosecution had succeeded in proving the case beyond reasonable doubt.
