A widow from Odisha has moved the Supreme Court pleading for setting aside the proceedings against her in a disproportionate assets (DA) case on the grounds that her husband, the main accused, is now dead and she cannot fight the case herself in his absence.
On Thursday, a Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked the Odisha Government to explain if the DA case trial can continue against a housewife under the present circumstances.
The apex court’s direction to the State Government followed hearing of the petition of Arati Sahoo, who has challenged the Orissa High Court’s order dismissing her plea for dropping the DA case against her.
Now, Arati Sahoo is facing trial in a court in Cuttack under the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 109 (abetment) of IPC. She is named as co-accused in the case in which her husband, who was a Government servant, was charge-sheeted for possessing disproportionate assets.
Arati Sahoo has pleaded that most of the properties are in her name, but she is not a public servant nor is she an income tax assessee. According to her petition in the Supreme Court, her husband died on June 12, 2017 and the proceedings against him were abated on August 28, 2017. The DA case against her is not maintainable.