Disproportionate assets is a term used in India to describe a situation where an individual's net economic assets significantly exceed the assets he or she should possess after accounting for the assets that he or she previously held and all legal sources of income.[1] Disproportionate assets cases are investigated by the CBI Central Bureau of Investigation and the Income Tax Department.

The concept is extensively used to initiate corruption investigations against public servants and elected politicians in India,[2][3] and has been codified in several pieces of national- and state-level legislation, including the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

On 29 September 2014, J Jayalalithaa, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, was convicted of disproportionate assets and was sentenced to jail for four years.[4] This made Jayalalithaa the first sitting chief minister in India to be removed from office due to corruption charges.[5] She was later acquitted on 11 May 2015 by the Karnataka High Court.[6] On 14 February 2017, the Supreme Court of India over-ruled the Karnataka High Court. Sasikala and the other accused were convicted and sentenced to four years' imprisonment, as well as being fined ₹10 crore (equivalent to ₹11 crore or US$1.6 million in 2019) each. The case against Jayalalithaa was abated because she had died but fines were levied on her properties.

References

  1. ^ "Dictionary of Indian English". Archived from the original on 30 April 2008. Retrieved 28 October 2008.
  2. ^ "Himachal IAS officer arrested in disproportionate assets case". newKerala.com. 3 October 2008. Retrieved 28 October 2008.
  3. ^ "Engineer facing disproportionate assets case reinstated in same post". The Hindu. 9 August 2008. Archived from the original on 12 August 2008. Retrieved 28 October 2008.
  4. ^ Disproportionate Assets: What constitutes the offence?, Andhra Pradesh Vigilance Commission, Government of Andhra Pradesh State, India. Accessed 2008-10-29. "... A Public Servant is said to commit the offence of Criminal Misconduct (of possession of disproportionate assets), “if he or any person on his behalf, is in possession or has, at any time during the period of his office, been in possession for which the public servant cannot satisfactorily account, of pecuniary resources or property disproportionate to his known sources of income”, as laid down under clause (e) of sub-sec.(1) of sec.13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. ..."
  5. ^ "What Happens When a State Is Run by Movie Stars?". New York Times. 1 July 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  6. ^ "Jayalalithaa acquitted by Karnataka High Court in DA case – Read judgment and case history". 1, Law Street. 11 May 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.

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