VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, Nov 5: The special PMLA court of Prabhat Kumar Sharma on Saturday rejected the anticipatory bail petition of Abhishek Jha in Khunti district MNREGA case. He is the husband of Jharkhand cadre IAS officer Pooja Singhal who is in judicial custody in this case.
Senior advocate Bishwajeet Mukherjee and Shaurya Bhardwaj defended the case of Abhishek Jha whereas special prosecutor of the ED Atish Kumar opposed the bail petition. Notably, the ED filed a prosecution complaint against Pooja Singhal, Abhishek Jha and others. After the rejection of his anticipatory bail petition, Abhishek Jha has no option except to move the Jharkhand High Court to seek relief.
The ED has stated that IAS Pooja Singhal and her husband Abhishek Jha used Pulse Super Speciality Hospital for the purpose of money laundering and infused cash running in crores in its construction and operation. The money was the proceeds of the crime generated out of the MNREGA scam when she was DC of Khunti and Chatra district. Abhishek Jha is the director of this hospital.
The hospital building was constructed by M/s Unique Construction. Akshat Katyal, one of the partners in this construction company, said that he received Rs. two Crore in cash from Pooja Singhal and Abhishek Jha at their residence in 2020 for the purpose of purchasing construction material and payment to labourers.
The ED arrested Pooja Singhal in May during the course of the investigation of the MNREGA scam in Khunti district when she was the Deputy Commissioner. The scam is worth Rs 18.06 crore. The ED in the prosecution complaint has stated that Pooja Singhal and her husband laundered the proceeds of the crime of the MNREGA scam during the construction of the hospital. Akshat Katyal has further told the ED that both have made huge cash payments for the purpose of purchase of building materials for the construction of the hospital. On the scrutiny, the company is found to receive a total payment of Rs. 6.19 crore.
