Odisha: Assets worth Rs. 5.86 crore of Ex-Municipal Engineer confiscated by court

Bhubaneswar, Aug 24 (Representative) The Authorized Officer of the Special Confiscation Court, Bhubaneswar on Saturday ordered the confiscation of immovable and movable assets worth Rs. 5.86 crore belonging to Subash Chandra Mishra, a former Municipal Engineer with the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation. The Odisha Vigilance has filed a confiscation case that includes immovable assets such as two double-story buildings, one single-story building, three plots, and movable assets including bank and insurance deposits, investments in shares, and gold ornaments weighing over 2.5 kg, all owned by the former Municipal Engineer. He was charged by Odisha Vigilance under Section 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, for possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

During the investigation, the properties uncovered by the Vigilance officials were attached, and Odisha Vigilance requested the Authorized Officer of the Confiscation Court to confiscate them. After hearing the confiscation case, the Court ordered the confiscation of the property acquired by the former Municipal Engineer. The Odisha government enacted the Special Courts Act, 2006, for the speedy trial and confiscation of properties of public servants who hold or have held high political and public offices and have accumulated vast properties disproportionate to their known sources of income through corrupt means. In all cases involving disproportionate assets against senior ranks, Odisha Vigilance is simultaneously initiating confiscation proceedings in Special Courts established for this purpose. An official source stated that in disproportionate assets cases, Odisha Vigilance has a conviction rate of 65-75 percent, which is among the best of all state-level anti-corruption bureaus in the country.