The Kerala High Court suspended former DGP Tomin J Thachankary's four-year prison sentence. The relief remains conditional on a substantial fine deposit, bail bond and travel restrictions.
Stock photo used for illustration
Kochi,Oct 15, 2026 21:14 IST
The Kerala High Court on Thursday suspended the four-year prison sentence of former Director General of Police Tomin J Thachankary in a disproportionate assets case, news agency Press Trust of India reported.
Justice A Badharudeen granted the relief to Thachankary, who had been sentenced by a vigilance court to four years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 30.84 lakh.
The High Court noted that the former DGP could not produce material and documents before the investigating officer to account for the wealth he was accused of amassing beyond his known sources of income.
“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, according to PTI.
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 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, the same is a reason to cancel this order suspending sentence and consequential cancellation of bail hereby granted,” the court said. It also directed Thachankary not to leave India without its prior permission.
The High Court made it clear that the bail bond could not be executed and Thachankary could not be released on bail until he had deposited 75 per cent of the fine.
The order came on Thachankary's appeal against his conviction. 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 several premises on July 4, 2007, and documents were seized. A final report was filed after the investigation, and the case was transferred between vigilance courts before the Vigilance Court in Kottayam took it up in 2020, PTI reported.
Thachankary said the state government later ordered a further investigation after he complained that several sources of his income had not been considered and that the investigating officer's calculations contained errors.
The High Court later quashed the government's order, holding that the government could not direct such a further investigation. However, it allowed the investigating agency to use the evidence collected during that investigation, according to the appeal.
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 also said that, when questioned under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedure during the trial, he had denied the circumstances cited against him and submitted a further statement explaining the alleged calculation errors and the circumstances in which he claimed he had been falsely implicated.
In his appeal, Thachankary argued that the conviction was illegal and could not be sustained. He alleged that the evidence had been wrongly assessed and that the court had relied on incorrect calculations by the investigating officers.
The High Court has suspended Thachankary's sentence subject to his depositing 75 per cent of the fine, furnishing the required bail bond and sureties, staying away from crime, and not leaving India without prior permission.
- Ends