Case of disproportionate assets registered against VMC Ward Officer

A case of disproportionate assets worth Rs 69.91 lakh has been registered in Vadodara ACB, against Mahesh Manilal Parnami, the then Land Acquisition Officer of Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) and currently serving as a Ward Officer of Administrative Ward-12.
Following the application, the ACB team started investigating Mahesh Parnami’s property.

An application was filed with the Vadodara ACB against Mahesh Parnami, Land Acquisition Officer Class 2, Vadodara Municipal Corporation, and currently serving as the Ward Officer of Administrative Ward-12 alleging that he had bought land and properties worth crores of rupees in the name of himself and his family members through corruption against his income. Based on this, the ACB started an investigation into the disproportionate assets of Mahesh Parnami and collected documentary evidence regarding him and his family members’ property, bank accounts, and documentary information from various government offices. His financial transactions were analyzed by the financial advisor of the ACB.

Investigating Mahesh Parnami’s assets and documents it was revealed that his total income from legal sources of income was Rs 90,89,921 against his investment of Rs 1,60,81,227. Thus, the assets worth Rs 69,91,306 were found to be disproportionate and his wealth was 79.51% higher than his legal income.

From 1st April 2009 – 31st March 2019, a total of Rs. 30,25,202 in cash was deposited in his various bank accounts. In addition, he bought real estate and forest properties worth Rs 19,06,206 in the name of himself and his dependents and paid along with other expenses. Meanwhile, Rs 21,93,400 was withdrawn from the bank account.

The ACB had filed 30 offenses of disproportionate assets against 3 Class-I officers, nine Class-II officers, and 18 Class-III officers in the year 2020 in which disproportionate assets of Rs. 41,17,27,706 came to light. Cases have been registered against 8 officers of GLDC, 4 of Urban Development, 3 of Revenue, 2 of PWD, 2 of GPCB, 1 of Police, 1 of Education, 4 of Panchayat, 2 of Irrigation Department, 1 of Industry, 1 of Health and 1 of Forest and Environment Department.