The Supreme Court on Friday deferred to June 23 the hearing of the anticipatory bail plea of Abhishek Jha, the husband of suspended Jharkhand cadre IAS officer Pooja Singhal, in a money laundering case related to the alleged MNREGA scam in the state.
Singhal, a 2000-batch IAS officer, is the main accused in the alleged scam involving embezzlement of public funds of Rs 18.07 crore when she was the deputy commissioner of Khunti district.
A vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah, which refused to grant any interim protection to Jha, said the allegations against him serious and it would be appropriate if he surrenders and seeks regular bail.
The counsel appearing for Jha said he is a businessman and is seeking anticipatory bail as his daughter is suffering from serious ailments. This court, the lawyer said, has twice granted interim bail to his wife for taking care of their daughter.
"All this you should have thought before indulging in these activities. We are not inclined to grant you anticipatory bail in a case of this nature," the court told the counsel.
The counsel said since the court is not inclined to grant anticipatory bail, it would be appropriate if a senior advocate is allowed to pursue the matter before another bench. Supreme Court benches usually don't hear arguments of senior lawyers during vacations in order to encourage juniors.
The bench said, "Yes, we can post this matter next week. You can take your chances before the next vacation bench but we are not inclined to grant you any relief. Maybe that bench allows senior advocates to argue."
Justice Amanullah said he was part of the bench which had granted interim bail to Pooja Singhal and knew the facts of the case.
On January 3 and February 10, the top court had granted interim bail to Singhal in the money laundering case to look after her ailing daughter.
On June 12, the top court had agreed to hear the anticipatory bail plea of Jha challenging the Jharkhand High Court order denying him the relief.
The High Court had on May 18 dismissed Jha's plea and asked him to surrender before the court in four weeks.
"As held by the Supreme Court, in offences under PMLA, rigors of Section 45 will apply. Considering the magnitude of crime involving proceeds of crime to the tune of crores with evidence of it being carefully layered and laundered through investments, materials on record, risk of flight and for the plea taken on behalf of the ED, I do not find this a case fit for grant anticipatory bail," Justice Gautam Kumar Chaudhary had said while rejecting his application.
According to the prosecution, Jha's financial fortunes soared after his marriage to Singhal and cash started flowing into his bank accounts. The money was allegedly the proceeds of crime generated through corrupt practices by Singhal.
Jha has claimed the money was his legitimate income from a job in Australia.
The high-profile IAS officer was posted as the deputy commissioner of Khunti from February 16, 2009 to July 19, 2010. The two married in 2011.
"Large scale embezzlement of public funds was detected and 16 FIRs were lodged detailed in para 1.6 of the prosecution complaint in the District of Khunti where Puja Singhal was the Deputy Commissioner at the relevant time. The total amount alleged to have been embezzled as per the 16 FIRs were to the tune of Rs 18.06 Crores. In all the 16 FIRs, charge sheets were filed against Ram Binod Prasad Sinha, RK Jain and others,” the HC order said.
It said the investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) unearthed proceeds of crime in various layers of money laundering, and properties worth Rs 4.28 crore, including the interest on these properties, were attached.
The order referred to the search and seizure operations at nearly 30 premises linked to Singhal and her associates in Ranchi, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Faridabad, Gurugram and Muzaffarpur during which cash totalling Rs 19.76 crore was seized, besides incriminating documents and digital devices.
The high court recorded the main case against Singhal related to the period when she was the DC of Khunti during which she allegedly connived with the engineers of the special division and the district board, and embezzled Rs 18.06 crore.
Referring to the allegations against Jha, the court cited Singhal's chartered accountant Suman Kumar, who claimed he was making investments on behalf of his wife.
Singhal has been accused of setting up Pulse Sanjeevani hospital in Ranchi with her husband to launder her ill-gotten wealth.
Jha has claimed in his statement made under Section 50 of the PMLA that the source of infusion of money in M/s Pulse Sanjeevani Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. was his savings from the job in Australia, and gifts that he received during his tilak and marriage ceremonies.
-With PTI Input
