A special lokayukta court has directed counsels of suspended IAS couple Arvind Joshi and Tinu Joshi to submit their reply soon in connection with a disproportionate assets case against them.
The court directed the counsels of the tainted IAS couple on Saturday to file their reply during the next hearing of the case on October 5.The direction came after lokayukta counsel pleaded in the court of Special Judge Alka Dubey that the Joshi couple was deliberately delaying the case.
The lokayukta counsel said that the couple was not submitting their reply to justify possession of their ‘excessive’ wealth, as a part of their strategy to delay the case.
Their counsel was also refusing to accept copy of the case framed against the couple, he said.The couple’s counsels again contended that the documents enclosed with charge sheet were not readable, but the agency (lokayukta) countered their argument on the ground that none of the respondents had made any effort to get the clearer copy of the papers in question.
The Income Tax department had raided the residence of Joshis here in 2011 and unearthed `3 crore in cash, besides documents about properties worth crores, which was grossly disproportionate to their known sources of income. The Joshi couple have been charged under of Prevention of Corruption Act. Fifteen other accused have been charged under Section 109 (instigation) and Section 120 (conspiracy) of the IPC.
Earlier this year, a special anti-corruption court had issued notices to the IAS couple and their relatives for the confiscation of property worth `22 crore in total. In April 2012, the Madhya Pradesh Government had recommended to the Centre that the Joshis be sacked.