RANCHI: The appointment of IAS officer Pooja Singhal, out on bail in a money laundering case linked to the MGNREGA scam, as Secretary of the IT Department and CEO of Jharkhand Communication Network Ltd. has sparked controversy.
The decision, taken despite legal objections raised by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), has sparked considerable debate in political and administrative circles in the state. Notably, ED has already filed an application in the Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Court requesting to ensure that she should not be posted to any department in the state government.
According to ED, if the state government gives the responsibility of any department to Pooja Singhal, then she may misuse her position and influence the case.
A 2000-batch IAS officer, Singhal was arrested for allegedly embezzling crores of MGNREGA funds in Khunti. Singhal, after remaining in jail for 28 months, was granted bail by a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Court in Ranchi on December 7, 2024.
Following her release on bail, the state government revoked her suspension and reinstated her with effect from December 7, 2024. The special PMLA Court, after hearing the arguments from both sides on Monday, has kept its orders reserved, with the next hearing scheduled for February 27.
In a major rejig of IAS officers, Pooja Singhal was handed over the two key posts on Tuesday.
BJP has questioned her posting on key posts despite objections raised by the ED.
“Those who are accused of being involved in scams worth crores and looting the state exchequer, have again been given responsibility of key posts, which means she has been given the license of looting the state in future also,” said veteran BJP MLA and former minister CP Singh.
JMM on the other hand countered the BJP saying that Pooja Singhal is still an accused and not a convict in the case, alleging the BJP of deliberately politicising the matter as they are not getting any issue to malign the image of the state government.
“It must be kept in mind that Pooja Singhal is still an accused and not a convict. And there is no direction from the PMLA court regarding her posting,” said JMM spokesperson Manoj Pandey. It is nothing but a political stunt to malign the image of the state government, he added.
Pandey also questioned whether IAS Sajal Chakravarty, accused in fodder scam, the Chief Secretary of Jharkhand; whether IAS Pradeep Kumar, against whom CBI inquiry was being conducted, was not given important posts when BJP was in power.