20 years after he died, Bombay HC clears sales tax officer in corruption and refunds conspiracy case BySwati DeshpandeSwati Deshpande / Updated: Jan 25, 2021, 08:42 IST MUMBAI: The Bombay HC recently acquitted a sales tax officer, dead for almost two decades, in a 1985 corruption and refunds conspiracy case, 25 years after his conviction. Suresh Kagne’s widow and son had in 2015 stepped into his shoes to continue with the appeal filed in 1996, against the conviction, an 18-month jail and Rs 26,000 fine. In September 1996, a Solapur special trial court had convicted Kagne and two other officials, relying largely on the testimony of an approver—son of a co-accused, an oil mill owner. He had been granted pardon at the end of the trial after 92 of the 94 prosecution witnesses were examined, “obviously to fill up lacunae in the case”, said the HC in its judgment by Justice S K Shinde.