VIJAY DEO JHA
Ranchi, Jan 3: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted a month-long interim bail to Jharkhand cadre IAS Pooja Singhal in MGNREGA scam in which the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested her in May last year and charge-sheeted her as well.
The SC granted her bail for the treatment of her daughter. Till the interim bail period the court has directed Pooja Singhal not to stay and visit Jharkhand. She can stay in Delhi Mumbai region for the purpose of treatment of her daughter. The SC has also directed the ED to file its reply in three-week time on the bail petition filed by Pooja Singhal.
Earlier, the Ranchi PMLA court and then Jharkhand High Court had rejected her bail petition. The Jharkhand High Court in its order had stated that owing to the enormity of the crime bail can’t be granted to her. The ED had submitted before the high court that she had even tried to get a fake medical report to get bail.
Notably, the ED has charged her for committing a scam worth Rs.18.06 Crore in the execution of the MGNREGA project in Khunti district where she was the DC during the period 16th February 2009 to 19th July 2010. She was the principal authority for sanctioning funds for different development projects. The ED claimed that she invested the proceeds of crime in the construction of Pulse Super Speciality Hospital owned by her husband.
Pooja Singhal was arrested after the ED raided her premises as well as her chartered accountant Suman Kumar Singh and recovered Rs. 19.76 Crores (approx) from premises of Suman Kumar Singh.
