Confiscation proceedings against relatives do not abate upon the death of the delinquent public servant.

The main accused, Ravindra Prasad Singh (a government servant), was charged in 2009 for amassing disproportionate assets (DA) worth approximately ₹12.96 lakhs between 1975 and 2009

A chargesheet was filed under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act, 1988, and the Indian Penal Code

In 2012, confiscation proceedings were initiated under the Bihar Special Courts Act (BSCA), 2009, against both the accused and his wife, Sudha Singh (the Respondent), as several assets were held in her name

The Authorised Officer ordered confiscation in 2013, rejecting the Respondent's claim that the assets were funded by her independent business

While the appeal was pending in the High Court, the public servant died on January 18, 2018

The High Court set aside the confiscation, holding that in the absence of a provision for substitution of legal heirs or continuation of proceedings after the death of the public servant, the proceedings could not be maintained

A similar order was passed by the High Court in the connected case of Uma Devi regarding the death of public servant Naresh Paswan

1. Whether confiscated properties held in the name of a close relative or spouse can continue to remain confiscated by the State upon the death of the public servant during the pendency of an appeal

2. Whether the death of a public servant leads to the automatic abatement of confiscation proceedings initiated under the BSCA, 2009

The Court applied the Bihar Special Courts Act, 2009, specifically Section 13 (initiation of confiscation), Section 14 (notice to affected persons), and Section 15 (power of the Authorised Officer to record findings and order confiscation)

It relied on the principle from Yogendra Kumar Jaiswal v. State of Bihar, which clarified that confiscation proceedings are not per se criminal proceedings

The Court cited Gurmail Singh v. State of U.P. to distinguish "abatement" (discontinuation due to death) from "acquittal"

Furthermore, it applied the doctrine from P. Nallammal v. State, establishing that non-public servants who hold assets on behalf of a public servant can be proceeded against under the PC Act and related statutes

The Court reasoned that the High Court erred in equating the abatement of a criminal trial with the automatic reversal of a confiscation order

Under Section 15 of the BSCA, a confiscation order is passed after providing an opportunity of being heard to the person holding the property—in this case, the Respondent

Since the Respondent was already a party to the proceedings from the inception, the absence of a specific "substitution" clause in the BSCA is irrelevant

The Court emphasized that the BSCA is a special statute that explicitly provides only two scenarios for the return of confiscated property: (a) modification or annulment of the order by the High Court on merits, or (b) acquittal of the accused by the Special Court

Death of the delinquent officer does not fall into either category and does not constitute a finding on the merits of the property's acquisition

Consequently, the High Court was required to determine the appeal on its merits—specifically whether the property was illegally acquired—rather than dropping the proceedings due to the death of the public servant

The Court held that the death of a public servant does not extinguish confiscation proceedings under the BSCA, especially when the property holder (the relative) was already noticed and heard in the proceedings

The Court restored the appeals to the High Court of Patna with directions to decide them on their merits