VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, July 3: Hearing of the bail petition of ex-Mining Secretary Pooja Singhal was deferred till July 12 as the Enforcement Directorate sought time to file the counter reply to the bail petition filed by her. Earlier on July 4 also the hearing of her bail petition was deferred. Sources in the ED said that there are some law points on which the ED needs some time to file the reply.
On June 27, she filed a bail petition through her lawyer Biswajit Mukherjee before the special PMLA court of Prabhat Kumar Sharma in Ranchi. She sought bail on the health grounds and also challenged the judicial custody as illegal. She prayed before the court that she is not keeping good health 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 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.
