HC dismisses statutory bail plea of ED officer

Chennai: The Madras High Court on Friday rejected the statutory bail application filed by Ankit Tiwari, an Enforcement Directorate (ED) officer arrested by the Tamil Nadu Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) over bribery allegations last December.

Justice M Dhandapani, of the Madurai bench of Madras HC, passed the order on March 15, dismissing Tiwari’s challenge to a local court’s decision denying him bail, reported Bar and Bench.

The High Court emphasised the importance of an applicant’s personal liberty but noted that the DVAC had not filed a chargesheet due to a Supreme Court stay on the investigation on January 25 when the DVAC was 55 days into its probe.

Justice Dhandapani stated that under these circumstances, the High Court’s options were limited, suggesting Tiwari seek clarification from the Supreme Court regarding the interpretation of the stay in relation to his bail application.

“Though the personal liberty of the petitioner is of paramount importance, equally the order of the Supreme Court also has to be followed in which case, this Court is put in a catch-22 situation, where applying Article 21 and granting default bail to the petitioner would prejudice the rights of the respondent as the order of the Supreme Court had prevented them from filing the charge sheet, but for which the present situation of default bail would not have arisen. With great respect, it is to be stressed that when a blanket order of interim stay has been granted by the Apex Court, interpreting the order in any other way than the one in which it is couched would be not only an act of disrespect to the Supreme Court, but would also be a contemptuous act to which this Court should not be a party,” the High Court said.

Tiwari was arrested by the DVAC for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 20 lakh. Subsequently, the ED approached the Supreme Court to transfer the probe to the CBI. The Supreme Court had issued notice on that plea on January 25 and stayed the DVAC probe.

On February 6, 2024, a special court in Dindigul district rejected Tiwari’s application for statutory bail, leading to his plea before the High Court. Advocate G Karuppsamy Pandian appeared for Ankit Tiwari, while Additional Public Prosecutor A Thiruvadi Kumar appeared for the respondent State government.