The Kerala High Court on Monday (November 2) orally questioned the plea preferred by former Director General of Police Tomin J. Thachankary seeking to go abroad to rejoin 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. He had spent around 4 weeks in jail before his sentence was suspended.

When the matter came up today, Justice A. Badharudeen orally asked:

"This is a case in which, in my knowledge, I'm not sure, the accused when he was detained in custody, he was admitted in the jail ward for 28 days. So this is his situation. How can he go abroad and do the job? I shall call for a report....So many diseases so he must get admitted in a hospital. On getting reliefs, he want to go abroad and do the job. There are absolutely contra views. How can it be justified?"

The Court also orally remarked that the Thachankary says he is a seriously ill patient when in jail but when released, he wants to go abroad to the US or Saudi Arabia. It orally added that there is an apparent contradiction in his actions and if Court were to grant reliefs to him, the public faith in the judiciary would be undermined.

The Court then felt it appropriate to call for a report from the Jail Superintendent mentioning the number of days in which Thachankary was actually hospitalised during his custody:

"call for a report from the Jail Superintendent concerned regarding his hospitalisation during his custody for four weeks. The report should contain the details regarding the total number of days he was admitted to the jail hospital and the details of diseases for which he was given treatment. The report also should contain how many days, in fact, he was not in the hospital, so as to consider his request to go abroad as genuine on the factual aspects involved in this case."

The case is posted to November 6 (Friday) for further consideration.

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.