VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, June 28: The hearing of the bail petition of suspended IAS Pooja Singhal was deferred till July 4 after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) sought time from the court to file the reply and to get some documents ready.
On Monday, Singhal filed a bail petition through her lawyer Biswajit Mukherjee before the special PMLA court of Prabhat Kumar Sharma in Ranchi. She has sought bail on the health grounds, besides, also challenging the judicial custody as illegal. She prayed before the court that she is not keeping good health and hence she needs better treatment. Hence, the court should grant her bail.
The Enforcement Directorate arrested her on May 11 on the charge of money laundering following her involvement in the MNREGA scheme scam in the Khunti district. Her chartered accountant Suman Kumar Singh who is the co-accused was arrested on May 7, a day after the nationwide raids against Pooja Singhal and others. Both are lodged at the Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi.
Under the PMLA Act, the ED is bound to file the charge sheet against them by July 7.
