SC issues notice to ED on bail plea of suspended IAS officer Pooja Singhal

NEW DELHI, (PTI): The Supreme Court has sought the the response of the Enforcement Directorate to a plea filed by suspended IAS officer Pooja Singhal in a money laundering case seeking interim bail to look after her daughter who is ill. A bench of Justices S K Kaul and Abhay S Oka issued notice to the ED and others and sought their replies.

“Issue notice returnable in the re-opening miscellaneous week of January, 2023 both in the SLP as well as on the application for interim bail.

“In the meantime, the respondent is directed to verify the medical status of the daughter of the petitioner,” the bench said.

During the hearing, the counsel appearing on behalf of Singhal submitted his client’s daughter needs to be looked after due to a medical condition and sought bail on that ground.

The top court asked the anti-money laundering probe agency to verify the condition of her daughter and inform the bench.

The top court was hearing an appeal filed by Singhal, a Jharkhand cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, against the Jharakhand high court order dismissing her bail plea.

Singhal has been in custody since May 11 after raids were conducted at properties linked to her.

The Enforcement Directorate has accused Singhal, a former state mines department secretary, of money laundering.

The ED has said 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 suspended by the state government following her arrest.

Suman Kumar, a chartered accountant linked to Singhal and her husband, was also arrested by the agency and cash totalling Rs 19.76 crore was seized from him. (PTI)