DA case: Arrest warrant issued against tainted MP IAS couple

Bhopal, Aug 29: A special court here has issued an arrest warrant against terminated Madhya Pradesh IAS couple Tinoo and Arvind Joshi and sent his two NRI sisters besides six others allegedly involved in the Rs 42 crore disproportionate assets case to jail.

The arrest warrants were issued by Special Judge Dinesh Kumar Mishra late last evening as the couple failed to appear in court even for a single hearing. Inspector General (IG) Lokayukta, Ashok Awasthi said the court has fixed September 9, as the next date of hearing in the case and till that time police have to execute the arrest warrant against the tainted duo and others.

The court has directed to execute the arrest warrant against Joshi's NRI sisters Abha and Vibha through Interpol via CBI. The accused, both 1979 batch IAS officers were charged with accumulating huge wealth, grossly disproportionate to their known sources of income.

Lokayukta Police had submitted its charge sheet against the IAS couple and 18 others in the case on February 22, under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Both Arvind and Tinoo were terminated from service last month, nearly four years after income tax sleuths at a raid on their official residence in 74 Bungalows area here unearthed over Rs three crore unaccounted cash.

After the 2010 IT raid, Lokayukta Police also took suo motu cognisance of the matter and registered a case against the couple. Soon after the raids, the state government too had ordered an enquiry against them which was conducted by former Chief Secretary Nirmala Buch. The court sent their six associates-- Pawan Agrawal, SP Kohli, Srimath Kohli, Lalit Jaggi, Seema Jaiswal and Santosh Jaiswal-- to jail.

PTI