RANCHI: The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to former Rural Development Minister of Jharkhand Alamgir Alam and his former Personal Secretary Sanjeev Lal.
The bail was granted in connection with a high-profile money laundering case linked to a tender scam being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
ED had arrested Alamgir Alam on May 15, 2024. This was followed by the recovery of over Rs 32.20 crore in cash during raids conducted at the premises of his close associates.
Jharkhand High Court had previously rejected the bail pleas of former Minister Alamgir Alam and his PA, Sanjeev Lal, following which they challenged the decision in the Supreme Court.
During the hearing, the ED opposed the bail petitions, arguing that the case was “extremely serious” and related to alleged commission payments and money laundering.
The agency informed the court that statements of four key witnesses were yet to be recorded despite earlier directions issued by the apex court.
The ED also expressed apprehension that the accused could influence witnesses if released on bail.
During the hearing, the advocate representing former Minister Alamgir Alam argued that there were no direct allegations levelled against him in this case.
Furthermore, no money of any kind was recovered from his premises.
Therefore, under these circumstances, they contended, he ought to be granted relief.
Additionally, the lawyers appearing on behalf of the former minister also sought for bail, citing his medical condition.
77-year-old Alamgir Alam has been in custody for more than two years, and suffers from health-related issues, they argued.
A bench comprising Justice MM Sundresh and Justice N Kotiswar Singh heard the bail pleas of both accused and ordered their release after considering submissions from both sides.
The case originated from large-scale raids conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on May 6, 2024, at locations linked to Sanjeev Lal, Jahangir Alam and others.
During the searches, officials recovered Rs 32.20 crore in cash from premises connected to Jahangir Alam.
The agency also seized Rs 10.05 lakh in cash and a diary from Sanjeev Lal’s residence.
Investigators claimed the diary allegedly contained details of commission transactions and coded entries referring to beneficiaries involved in the distribution of illegal funds.
Following the recovery of cash and documents, the ED arrested Sanjeev Lal and his associate Jahangir Alam on May 7, 2024.
Former minister Alamgir Alam was later summoned for questioning and arrested late on May 15, 2024, after being interrogated for two consecutive days.
During the course of the investigation, the ED attached assets worth Rs 4.42 crore linked to Sanjeev Lal and also confiscated the Rs 32.20 crore recovered from Jahangir Alam’s premises.
The probe further revealed that commission money was allegedly collected under the supervision of Sanjeev Lal and routed to influential individuals.
Investigators alleged that a nexus of engineers was involved in managing tenders and collecting commissions from contractors, after which a fixed share was allegedly passed on to senior government functionaries.