SC grants bail to suspended Jharkhand-cadre IAS officer and former Ranchi DC in ED case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to suspended Jharkhand-cadre IAS officer and former Ranchi deputy commissioner Chhavi Ranjan in a money-laundering case.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh said despite Ranjan spending 30 months in jail, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has not been able to complete the trial in the case.

"We understand that the allegations are very serious but the ED has to prove these allegations. He cannot be kept inside for an infinite period," the bench told advocate Zoheb Hussain, who represented the ED in the matter.

The bench, however, restrained the former deputy commissioner from leaving Jharkhand without the prior permission of the court.

"Taking into consideration the period already spent by the petitioner in custody, however, without expressing any opinion on the nature of the allegations levelled against him, we are inclined to release the petitioner on bail. The petitioner is, accordingly, directed to be released on bail, subject to his furnishing bail bonds to the satisfaction of the trial court," it said.

The bench said Ranjan shall remain present before the trial court on each and every date of hearing and fully cooperate for the timely conclusion of the pending proceedings.

The court noted that Ranjan is one of the accused in the ED case registered in 2022 and the allegations against the main accused, Amit Kumar Agarwal, and others are that they committed fraud in the records of a sale deed dated October 1, 2021, which pertained to a property owned by one Jayant Karnad.

"The petitioner was the deputy commissioner at the relevant time and is alleged to have conspired and assisted the main accused to get the records of the land holding fabricated, with a view to availing loan facilities etc. The petitioner is a member of the All India Services. He was arrested on May 4, 2023 and has been in custody since then," the bench noted.

It said the complaint was filed after the completion of the investigation, the trial has commenced and five of the 31 witnesses appear to have been examined so far.

"The conclusion of the trial will take some reasonable time. The co-accused have already been released on bail. The petitioner does not have criminal antecedents," the court noted.

It said keeping in view the background of the witnesses, who are yet to depose, it appears that there is no likelihood of influencing the witnesses or tampering with the evidence.

"In any case, if such an attempt is made by the petitioner, it will amount to misuse of the concession of bail and necessary consequences will follow," the bench said.

Ranjan, a 2011-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Jharkhand cadre, was taken into custody by the ED on May 4, 2023, when he reached his office after 10 hours of grilling. He was the director of the state's social welfare department then.

The central agency was probing more than a dozen land deals, including one pertaining to a defence land that was usurped by a nexus of bureaucrats and the land mafia through alleged forged sale deeds and other documents from as early as 1932.

The ED had taken note of a police FIR regarding the forgery of some personal identification documents registered by civic authorities in Ranchi.

The federal agency, according to sources, had seized a number of fake seals, land deeds and registry documents during searches.