Disproportionate Assets Cases

Information secured of possession of disproportionate assets should be developed by means of secret verification without taking up a formal enquiry in a Discreet Enquiry or a Regular Enquiry, to maintain utmost secrecy up to the point of conducting searches. When tangible data, required material and information are available, a Registered case should be taken up straight and simultaneous searches conducted of all places on the same day or immediately thereafter as the first step in the investigation. A case may arise as an outcome of search conducted in the course of a trap, in which event the necessary verification can be done in the trap case itself, before a separate case of disproportionate assets is registered.

The public servant commits the offence, if at any time during the period of his office he is in possession of pecuniary resources and property (assets) disproportionate to his known sources of income. A suitable date, any day during the period of service, is chosen, the date of searches being most convenient for this purpose. The public servant commits the offence, if it is established that as on this date, the assets in his possession are disproportionate to his known sources of income. It is called the "date of check". The period immediately preceding the date of check is the "period of check". It could be the entire period of service or even a part of it. The value of assets in possession of the public servant as on the "date of commencement of the period of check" is worked out. The total” savings" during the period of check are arrived at by deducting the total expenditure from the total income. The assets of which the accused public servant is in possession on the date of check are held to be disproportionate if their value exceeds the savings (taking into account the assets in his possession as on the date of commencement of the period of check), the degree of disproportion depending on the extent to which the assets are in excess.

The total value of the "assets" of which the public servant is in possession as on the date of check is worked out. The total "income" from all sources earned by the public servant and the total "expenditure" incurred on all items during the period of check are worked out.