CBI Court Convicts Central Excise and Service tax Inspector in Disproportionate Assets Case

The CBI Court in Ahmedabad, on December 29, 2025, convicted Kaushik Anvantrai Karelia, a government officer, in a case related to possessing wealth beyond his known legal income. At the time when the case began, he was working as an Appraiser/Preventive Officer at the Kandla Special Economic Zone (KASEZ). Presently working as an Inspector in Central Excise and Service Tax at Bhavnagar. The court sentenced him to five years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) and imposed a fine of Rs. 63 lakh.

The court also convicted his wife, Pooja Karelia, for helping him in the offence. She was found guilty of abetment in the disproportionate assets case and was sentenced to one year of imprisonment along with a fine of Rs. 50,000.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered this case on September 30, 2013. The allegation was that Kaushik Karelia had accumulated assets far beyond his known sources of income while serving as a public servant. Initially, the period under scrutiny was from September 1, 2008 to March 31, 2013, during which he was found to have assets worth about Rs. 19.86 lakh, 130% in excess of their known source of income.

During the investigation, the CBI expanded the check period was revised to March 20, 2013 from April 1, 2004. After the investigation, the CBI filed a chargesheet on September 3, 2014 against both Kaushik Karelia and his wife (Pooja Karelia) for disproportionate assets worth approximately Rs. 57.60 lakh, which was about 183.57% more than their known sources of income.

After examining the evidence and hearing the arguments during the trial, the court held the accused guilty for the crime and sentenced accordingly.