A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta declined to disrupt the Jharkhand High Court order rejecting Jharkhand cadre IAS officer Puja Singhal’s bail.|Picture Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma
The Supreme Court on April 29 dismissed a plea of suspended Jharkhand cadre IAS officer Puja Singhal looking for bail in a cash laundering matter, observing it is an “remarkable case”.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta declined to hinder the Jharkhand High Court order rejecting her bail.
The leading court kept in mind that out of 17 prosecution witnesses, 12 have actually been analyzed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and hoped that the trial in the event is concluded expeditiously.
“You wait on some more time for bail. This is not a typical matter however a remarkable case. There is something seriously incorrect in this case. We are not inclined to amuse the instantaneous petition. We hope the trial will be concluded expeditiously,” it observed.
The bench, nevertheless, provided liberty to Ms. Singhal to restore her bail plea, if the trial is extended or exists any other modification in scenario.
Extra Solicitor General SV Raju, standing for the ED, opposed the bail plea and stated that out of the overall custody duration, she has actually invested the majority of the time in a medical facility at Ranchi.
On February 10, 2023, the leading court had actually approved Ms. Singhal interim bail for 2 months to allow her to look after her ailing child.
Ms. Singhal has actually remained in custody given that May 11, 2022 after raids were carried out at homes connected to her in connection with the cash laundering case.
The case associates with declared corruption in the execution of MGNREGA, the Centre’s flagship plan for rural work.
The ED has actually implicated Ms. Singhal, a previous state mines department secretary, of cash laundering and stated its group took more than 36 crore money connected to declared unlawful mining as part of 2 different cash laundering examinations.
Apart from the 2000 batch IAS officer, her business owner spouse, a chartered accounting professional connected with the couple, and others were likewise robbed by the ED as part of the cash washing probe.
Ms. Singhal was suspended following her arrest.