SC declines to grant bail to suspended IAS officer Pooja Singhal
Apr 29, 2024
New Delhi [India], April 29 : The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea of suspended Jharkhand cadre IAS officer Pooja Singhal seeking bail in a money laundering case linked to the alleged embezzlement of MGNREGA funds and other charges.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta declined the bail plea saying it's an "extraordinary case".
The apex court refused to interfere with the Jharkhand High Court order which had denied her bail.
The bench took into note that out of 17 prosecution witnesses, 12 have been examined by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and hoped that the trial in the case be concluded expeditiously.
"You wait for some more time for bail. This is not a normal matter but an extraordinary case. There is something seriously wrong in this case. We are not inclined to entertain the instant petition. We hope the trial will be concluded expeditiously," said the bench.
It also gave liberty to Singhal to revive her bail plea, if the trial is prolonged or if is there any other change in circumstance.
ED opposed the bail plea of Singhal saying that out of the total custody period, she has spent most of the time in a hospital at Ranchi.
On February 10, 2023, the top court granted interim bail of two months to Singhal who sought interim bail to look after her daughter who is ill.
She has been in custody since May 11, 2022 after raids were conducted at properties linked to her in connection with the money laundering case.
The top court was hearing an appeal filed by Singhal, a Jharkhand cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, against the Jharkhand High Court order dismissing her bail plea.
The Enforcement Directorate has accused Singhal of money laundering saying more than Rs. 36 crore cash, linked to alleged illegal mining, was seized by its teams as part of two separate money laundering investigations.
Apart from the 2000-batch IAS officer, her businessman husband, a chartered accountant associated with the couple and others were also raided by the ED as part of a money laundering probe linked to a case of alleged corruption in the MGNREGA scheme.
Singhal was arrested after the ED claimed it had credible evidence of her connection with CA Suman Kumar. Singhal was the secretary of the Department of Mines and Geology and the managing director of Jharkhand State Mineral Development Corporation Limited (JSMDC).
