The Kerala High Court suspended former DGP Tomin J Thachankary's four-year prison sentence. His release remains subject to a fine deposit, bail bond and travel restrictions.
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Kochi,Oct 15, 2026 22:46 IST
The Kerala High Court on Thursday suspended the four-year prison sentence of former DGP Tomin J Thachankary in a disproportionate assets case, news agency Press Trust of India reported.
Following the order, Thachankary was released from the Central Prison and Correctional Home at Poojappura in Thiruvananthapuram district at 8.30 pm. “We got the High Court order around 8 pm and he was released at 8.30 pm,” a prison official told PTI.
Justice A Badharudeen granted relief to the former officer, who had been sentenced by a vigilance court to four years' rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 30.84 lakh.
The High Court noted that Thachankary “could not produce materials and documents to account for the wealth he was alleged to have amassed disproportionate to his known sources of income before the investigating officer”.
“Thus, prima facie, the finding of the Special Judge could not be faulted in any manner. However, despite the objection raised by the state, this is a case in which the sentence imposed is only four years and, in such view of the matter, the sentence can be suspended by imposing necessary conditions, in the interest of justice,” the High Court said.
The court directed Thachankary to first deposit 75 per cent of the fine imposed by the Special Court. He must then execute a bail bond of Rs 5 lakh with two solvent sureties each within a further period of one week.
“The petitioner/appellant/accused shall not involve in any other crimes and any such involvement, if reported or came to the knowledge of this court, is a reason to cancel this order suspending sentence and consequential cancellation of bail hereby granted,” the court said.
It also said Thachankary must not leave India without its prior permission. The court made it clear that the bail bond could not be executed and he could not be released on bail without depositing 75 per cent of the fine.
The order came on an appeal filed by Thachankary. According to the appeal, the FIR registered by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau initially covered assets allegedly amassed between January 1, 2003, and March 1, 2005. The period was later extended to July 4, 2007.
Searches were conducted at various premises on July 4, 2007, and documents were seized, the petition said. A final report was filed after the investigation, and the case was transferred between vigilance courts before being taken up by the Vigilance Court in Kottayam in 2020.
Thachankary said the state government later ordered a further investigation after he complained that several items of income belonging to him had not been considered and that the investigating officer had made errors in the calculations.
The High Court later quashed the government order, holding that the government could not direct such an investigation. However, it allowed the investigating agency to use the evidence collected during the further investigation, the appeal said.
Thachankary alleged that none of those documents was produced before the trial court despite his application under Rule 19(4) of the Kerala Criminal Rules of Practice.
He said he had denied the allegations when questioned under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure during the trial. He had also submitted a further statement explaining what he claimed were errors in the calculations and the circumstances in which he was falsely implicated.
In his appeal, Thachankary contended that the conviction was unsustainable and illegal. He alleged that the evidence had been wrongly assessed and that the court had relied on erroneous calculations by the investigating officers.
The High Court has suspended Thachankary's four-year sentence subject to conditions, including the deposit of 75 per cent of the fine, a Rs 5 lakh bail bond, restrictions on foreign travel and cancellation of bail if he is involved in another crime.
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