Absconding former IAS officer Arvind Joshi here on Tuesday surrendered before a local court in connection with the disproportionate assets case against him.
Joshi, who has been sacked from service, was sent to judicial custody till September 19 by Additional District judge DP Mishra after the tainted officer appeared in the court. On February 2, this year, the Supreme Court had rejected his anticipatory bail application.
Joshi's lawyer sought bail for his client on the ground that he was suffering from blood cancer and was needed to undergo bone marrow transplantation. If he didn't undergo the procedure, his life span would be 'reduced by two years', the lawyer said.
However, the prosecution opposed the bail tooth and nail stating that Joshi had absconded for long despite an arrest warrant and had no regard for the court summons.
The officer surrendered only when no other option was left, the prosecution said. It also said that Joshi and his close relatives had been found to be in possession of assets worth Rs41.87 crore, highly disproportionate to their known sources of income.
Joshi's wife Tinoo Joshi, who too has been dismissed from service, is at present lodged in the Bhopal Central Jail. The IAS couple was dismissed from service after an income-tax raid on their house in February 2010 led to detection of huge wealth, including Rs3 crore in cash.
The Joshis are facing cases for disproportionate assets under Prevention of Corruption Act and Indian Penal Code.
Special judge Dinesh Mishra had issued warrant against the couple and five others involved in it. As many as 18 others were also found in the case which involved Arvind's father HM Joshi, mother Namrata Joshi, sisters Abha and Vibha, associates SP Kohli, his wife and son, Pawan Agrawal, Sridev Sharma, Delhi-based stamp vendor, Raj Rani, insurance agent Seema Jaiswal, Bharti Varshaney and property broker Pradeep Jain. The hearing was then scheduled on September 9.
Ashok Awasthi, Inspector General (IG) lokayukta's special police establishment said, "Interpol help will be sought to arrest accused living outside India. This is a landmark decision by the court."