Supreme Court of India clarifies burden of proof in disproportionate assets cases

The Supreme Court of India has ruled that in cases involving disproportionate assets, the prosecution must first establish a mismatch between a public servant’s known lawful income and their assets, resources, and expenditure. Once this disparity is demonstrated, the evidentiary burden shifts to the accused to provide credible evidence of legitimate sources for the excess wealth.

A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva delivered the judgment while dismissing an appeal by V. Gopalakrishnan, a former Sub Registrar from Kerala. The Court clarified that investigating agencies are not required to conduct an open-ended or limitless inquiry to explore every possible income source that an accused might claim after the alleged wrongdoing is identified.

The Court also ruled that an excess of assets below 10% does not provide an automatic shield against prosecution. In the specific case of Gopalakrishnan, the Court upheld his conviction under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, noting that his attempts to dispute building costs and household expenditures were unsupported by reliable evidence. The former official has been directed to surrender within two weeks to serve his sentence.