India, May 21 -- A court here has acquitted a suspended Income Tax Officer and his wife in a 2007 case of disproportionate assets, pulling up the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for an "erroneous" and "casual" investigation.

Invoking a Supreme Court precedent, Special CBI Court Judge DS Deshmukh on Tuesday said that a defendant in a corruption case does not need to prove innocence beyond a reasonable doubt, and a preponderance of probability is sufficient.

The court acquitted Anil Ratnakar Mallel (45), an Income Tax Officer then posted in Maharashtra's Thane, and his wife Suvarna Anil Mallel (43) of charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 109 of the Indian Penal Code (abetment).

The CBI Anti-Corruption Bureau (...