Seeking maximum sentence for the convict, special public

prosecutor Jagbir Singh had told the court that Chaudhary is not worthy of any kind of leniency. "He rose to a very responsible position and was virtually second in command in the STC, a premier international trading company of the Government of India engaged primarily in export and import operations," he had said. He had also argued that he kept on acquiring a number of immovable properties either in his name or in the names of his family members and did not even bother to inform his employer about such acquisitions. The CBI had registered a case against Chaudhary on October 10, 2000 for acquiring assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. The probe agency had carried out the investigation during the period of April 1990 to December 1997, in which it found his illegal wealth to be over Rs 24 lakh, which was acquired in the name of his family members. CBI had also said that none of his family members had any independent source of income during that time. "Rather, they all were dependent upon the accused," it had said.