LAGATAR24 NETWORK
Ranchi, Jan. 31: Mastermind of Rs 100 crore Jharkhand Mid-Day Meal scam, Sanjay Tiwari got partial relief as the Supreme Court agreed to hear his bail petition provided he deposits Rs. 16. 34 crore scam amount in the government account and don’t interfere with the probe.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested him on November 23, 2021 on the charge of money laundering.
While hearing his SLP, the court of Justice K.M. Joseph and Justice Mrs. B.V. Nagarathna granted him bail for a period of four weeks so that he arranges money as promised. The interim bail period will be effective from the day of his release. The court deferred hearing of this matter till March 3.
A battery of lawyers appeared on behalf of Sanjay Tiwari who pleaded that if he is released for a period of eight weeks, he would be in a position to organize the funds so that the amount remaining to be deposited (about Rs.16.35/- crores) is paid back to the State Bank of India, Hatia Branch, Ranchi, Jharkhand.
His advocates pleaded that he is in custody since 23.11.2021 and further he has undergone nearly 15 months custody which is nearly 50% of the minimum sentence that he can be visited with for the offence under Sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
“We are of the view that the petitioner can be granted interim bail. Petitioner is granted interim bail for a period of four weeks from the date of his actual release from custody. Accordingly, it is directed that the petitioner shall be released on interim bail subject to the conditions which are imposed by the trial Courts,” the SC order states.
The SC also directed the Ranchi PMLA court to impose conditions upon him. Sanjay Tiwari will not leave Ranchi except with the permission of the Investigating Officer. He will surrender his passport before the special PMLA court and in some way influence or to reach out the witnesses in both the cases including the CBI case.
Sanjay Tiwari is currently lodged at Birsa Munda Central Jail. He can get the bail only after he makes the payment and fulfills other conditions. After the period of interim bail is over, he will have to surrender again after which the Supreme Court will consider to hear his bail petition.
Notably, two federal investigative agencies namely the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have investigated this case. Sanjay Tiwari is currently in judicial custody in the money laundering case.
The ED had lodged ECIR No.3/ 2021 while the CBI lodged an FIR RC 12(A)/2017-R under Sections 120B, 406, 409, 420 of IPC along with Section 13 (2) read with Section 13 (1) (d) of Prevention and Corruption Act.
The ED has filed a supplementary prosecution complaint against Sanjay Tiwari and his associate Raju Verma. A native of Hirapur in Dhanbad, Sanjay Tiwari is the owner of Ranchi-based construction company Bhanu Construction.
The scam surfaced in 2017 when it was disclosed that Rs. 100.14 Crore amount of Jharkhand Midday Meal Authority was transferred to the account of Bhanu Construction (36310149578) at Hatia branch of the SBI. The funds transfer from the SBI account of Jharkhand Midday Meal Authority to Bhanu Construction surfaced when the state body on September 19, 2017 directed the Hatia branch to release funds to districts.
But the bank discovered no cash in the midday meal authority’s account. Its internal investigation revealed that in July 2017, Rs 100.014 Crore landed at midday meal authority’s SBI Hatia account from the state. On August 5, the entire sum of Rs 100.014 was transferred to Bhanu Construction. At the same time Sanjay Tiwari had started withdrawing this cash. He did not inform the bank about this unaccounted-for deposit. He transferred Rs. 8.27 Crore to the accounts of Raju Verma.
It was disclosed that Sanjay Tiwari had transferred Rs 10.5 crore to one Nav Durga Company in Odisha and invested Rs 4 crore in an Axis Bank fixed deposit also. The bank immediately froze Bhanu Construction’s account and informed CBI’s Economic Offences Unit (Ranchi) & SBI headquarters (Delhi). Two bank employees at Hatia branch Anil Oraon and Kamaljeet Khanna were suspended.
