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Synopsis

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine a plea for anticipatory bail filed by Abhishek Jha, businessman and husband of high profile Jharkhand IAS Pooja Singhal, in a money laundering case probed by the Enforcement Directorate.

A vacation bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Rajesh Bindal fixed the petition for consideration on June 16.

Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that the petitioner has never been arrested by the investigating agency during the investigation.

The court asked him to serve a copy of the petition to Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj, appearing for the agency.

"List the matter on 16.06.2023. Question of issuing notice shall be considered on the next date of hearing," the bench thus ordered.

Singhal was the Secretary of the Department of Mines and Geology and the Managing Director of Jharkhand State Mineral Development Corporation Limited (JSMDC). On May 11, 2022, the ED arrested her and she was suspended by the Jharkhand government on then May 12. The Enforcement Directorate had alleged that material recovered from IAS officer Singhal, after her arrest, showed direct linkage with political higher ups. She was also accused of irregularities in disbursement of MGNREGA funds in 2010. 

Her husband Jha challenged validity of the High Court order of May 18, refusing to exercise the discretion of granting his anticipatory bail under section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

He stated he is a well-educated and established businessman who has, entirely on his own, established Pulse Sanjeevani Healthcare Pvt Ltd and successfully managed and ran Pulse Hospital and Pulse Diagnostic Centre. The said enterprise is a fully functional and profitable undertaking, providing state of art healthcare services in Ranchi, Jharkhand, his plea stated.

"During the commission of the alleged predicate offence, the petitioner was pursuing his Master's in Business Administration (MBA) in Australia and was primarily stationed there from 2008 to 2011. The alleged predicate offence pertains to the period 2009-2010, a period more than 12-13 years ago, and is related to certain FIRs having been registered against certain individuals in that period. The name of the petitioner is not and could not have been a part of the said FIRs owing to his absence from the country itself," his plea stated.

He said he got acquainted with Pooja Singhal in the later part of 2010, and they further got married on June 20, 2011.

On May 7, 2022, the ED had arrested Suman Kumar, Chartered Accountant, a day after a raid. He allegedly recorded a statement that majority of the cash amount of Rs.17.79 crores seized from his residential and official premises of belonged to the petitioner's wife, Singhal. 

On July 05, 2022, the ED filed a supplementary prosecution complaint against the petitioner and several others alleging commission of offence of money laundering under Section 3 of the PMLA the Sessions Court, CBI-cum- PMLA, Ranchi. 

In his plea, he said he had made himself readily available before the ED for interrogation and fully cooperated with the investigation.