Top court grants interim bail to suspended Jharkhand IAS officer

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday granted interim bail for a period of two months to suspended Jharkhand cadre IAS officer Pooja Singhal in a money laundering case to enable her to look after her ailing daughter.

The order was passed by a bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul while hearing Singhal’s appeal against the Jharkhand High Court order dismissing her bail plea in relation to the Enforcement Directorate’s probe arising from alleged corruption in the MGNREGA scheme.

“We are inclined to grant interim bail to the petitioner for the purposes of attending to her daughter for a period of two months from the date of release,” said the bench also comprising Justice Manoj Misra. The court directed Singhal, represented by senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, to not influence the witnesses, as alleged by the agency, and not visit Jharkhand except for attending court hearings.

The counsel for the agency argued during the hearing that Singhal’s daughter was being “medically managed” and her husband the girl’s stepfather was there to look after her and there were “serious apprehensions” with respect to the accused influencing witnesses if released. The top court had earlier granted interim bail to the official in the matter in January while asking the ED to respond to her bail plea.