In Jodhpur, a special CBI court handed former Income Tax Officer Shailendra Bhandari a four‑year prison sentence and fined him Rs 27 lakh in a disproportionate assets case on Thursday. Judge Bhupendra Kumar Sanadhya delivered the verdict.
Bhandari, who served in the Income Tax Department from 1978 until his arrest in 2015, amassed assets worth Rs 1.57 crore while his known income was only Rs 61.25 lakh. Investigators found that Rs 26.6 lakh—about 26.5 % of his total wealth—was illegally earned during his tenure.
“We see corruption spreading across sectors and gnawing at the nation’s economy—like termites,” Judge Sanadhya warned. “If we show leniency, we’ll encourage more officials to get away with bribery and send the wrong message.”
The case began on 31 March 2015, when the CBI raided Bhandari, Chief Commissioner PK Sharma, and a jeweler in a bribery probe. Subsequent searches uncovered documents detailing large‑scale asset accumulation in their names. The CBI filed a disproportionate assets case on 2 March 2016, led by Inspector Mukesh Bansal.
Bhandari’s career path—from Lower Division Clerk to Inspector and finally Income Tax Officer—spanned nearly four decades. He earned Rs 1.57 crore between 2006 and 2015, while his family spent Rs 57.09 lakh. The court ruled that his illegal earnings of Rs 26.6 lakh constituted unlawfully acquired property.
Earlier this year, on 26 September 2025, Bhandari received a separate four‑year prison term and a Rs 1.10 lakh fine for a bribery case. He had been suspended from 2015 until his retirement on 29 September 2017.
The conviction underscores the Indian government’s effort to crack down on corruption and enforce the Prevention of Corruption Act, sending a clear message that bribery will no longer go unpunished.
Source: ianslive
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