As per case facts the wife of a deceased public servant appealed her conviction for abetment of the offense of accumulating disproportionate assets during her husband's tenure as a public ... servant The High Court had upheld her conviction finding concurrent evidence that she had actively participated in acquiring multiple movable and immovable properties in her name and her minor children's names despite having no independent source of income thereby intentionally aiding her husband's criminal misconduct Her defense that the assets were acquired from legitimate sources like gifts and agricultural income was rejected by the courts below as lacking credibility with the total disproportionate assets remaining significantly high The question arose whether the non-public servant wife was guilty of abetment under Section IPC read with the Prevention of Corruption Act merely because properties disproportionate to her husband's known income were registered in her name Finally the Supreme Court in a split verdict did not resolve the appeal on the merits of her guilt with one judge confirming the conviction based on the volume of transactions and the evident knowledge of her husband's legitimate income holding that she actively aided the crime the other judge acquitted her ruling that mere name-lending or acquisition of assets in a relative's name without positive evidence of her mens rea or conspiracy does not satisfy the requirements of abetment particularly in a spousal relationship where financial affairs are often managed by the earning member The matter was directed to be placed before the Chief Justice of India for appropriate directions due to the split