The Kerala High Court on Saturday (October 24) sought the response of the State to a plea preferred by ex-Director General of Police Tomin J. Thachankary seeking to go abroad for rejoining his work.

Thachankary has sought to modify the conditions imposed by the Court while suspending the sentence awarded to him by the Enquiry Commissioner and Special Judge (Vigilance), Kottayam in the disproportionate assets case.

The Special Judge had convicted Thachankary under Section 13(2) read with 13(1)(e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. He was sentenced to 4 years imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 30.84 lakhs.

On October 15, the High Court suspended the sentence and enlarged him on bail. One of the conditions imposed was that he must not leave India without permission of the Court.

When the matter came up today, Justice A. Badharudeen observed that the prosecution objections must be heard before considering the plea and posted it to November 2 for further consideration.

The judge further orally noted that Thachankary has only recently been enlarged on bail.

In the plea preferred by Thachankary, he has stated that he has complied with the other conditions imposed by the High Court, including deposit of 75% of the fine amount imposed against him. He has further stated that he has been employed in UAE, for the past three years, after his retirement and that he has to rejoin his employment.

He added that even during the pendency of the trial, he was permitted to travel to and fro. He has further stated that he is not a flight risk, pointing out that he had attended 66 sittings of the trial court and had never misused his liberty or attempted to flee.

Counsel for the appellant: Raman B. Pillai (Sr.), S. Rajeev, M. S. Aneer, Sarath K. P., Anilkumar C.R., K.S. Kiran Krishnan, Dipa V., Akash Cherian Thomas, T.P. Aravind, Azad Sunil, Akshara S., Niveditha Rajeev, Ebee Antony.