A Special CBI Court in Ahmedabad has handed a Central Excise and Service Tax official a five-year rigorous imprisonment term along with a fine of Rs 63 lakh for possessing assets disproportionate to his income. Kaushik Anvantrai Karelia, the convicted official, previously served at Kandla Special Economic Zone and is currently working as an Inspector in Bhavnagar. His wife, Pooja Karelia, has also been sentenced to one year in prison with a fine of Rs 50,000 for abetment.
The case, initiated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2013, alleged that the couple accumulated assets beyond their known income between 2008 and 2013. The investigation period was later extended from 2004 to 2013. The CBI, after probing the matter, filed a charge sheet in 2014, revealing that the couple amassed assets worth Rs 57.60 lakh, which was 183.57% more than their legitimate income.
In a separate incident, a former Madhya Pradesh postal assistant, Rajnish Tiwari, was sentenced to five years in prison by a Special CBI court in Bhopal for embezzling Rs 13.85 lakh from government funds. Tiwari, who worked in Gwalior, was also fined Rs 14,000 in a fraud case registered by the CBI in 2022. The misappropriation involved manipulating electronic records and details of Recurring Deposit accounts, followed by the use of internet banking.
