Jharkhand HC closes PIL seeking ED probe against IAS Pooja Singhal

Singhal, who was in jail for the last 28 months in a money laundering case linked to MGNREGA scam, was granted bail by a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act Court in Ranchi in December.
Pooja Singhal
Pooja Singhal File photo | PTI
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RANCHI: In a major relief to senior IAS Pooja Singhal, a PIL seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) into the MGNREGA Scam was closed by the Jharkhand High Court on Monday.

Singhal, who was in jail for the last 28 months in a money laundering case linked to the MGNREGA scam, was granted bail by a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Court in Ranchi in December last year.

The PIL was filed by Arun Kumar Dubey.

While hearing the PIL initiated from a suo-moto cognizance regarding the investigation of the role of the then Khunti Deputy Commissioner Pooja Singhal in the MNREGA scam, the court closed the case after disposing it.

“The court observed that now there is no issue left in it as the police and ACB have investigated the matter and filed the charge sheet against the accused in the case, therefore closed the PIL,” said Advocate appearing on behalf of the state government, Piyush Chitresh.

Notably, there was an allegation of financial irregularities of more than Rs 200 crore against Singhal in MNREGA schemes during her tenure as Deputy Commissioner of Khunti. Sixteen FIRs were registered in various police stations of Khunti district in this regard.

Later, the investigation was taken from Khunti Police and handed over to State Anti-Corruption Bureau.

The petitioner, in his PIL, had alleged that the entire matter was being investigated by ACB, but the role of Singhal was not investigated, despite the fact that cheques were signed by the Deputy Commissioner only. A request was made to get her role investigated by ED.

It is noteworthy that the applicant had filed a PIL demanding an investigation into the role of the then Deputy Commissioner of Khunti, Pooja Singhal. Earlier, the ED, after interrogation for over 15 hours, had arrested the then mining secretary Pooja Singhal on May 11, 2022, in a money laundering case linked to alleged embezzlement of MGNREGA funds and other charges. The 2000-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer was arrested on the second day of the questioning being done by the ED officials.

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According to ED, Rs 1.43 crore more than the known sources of her income were recovered from the bank accounts of Pooja Singhal while she was Deputy Commissioner in Khunti, Palamu and Chatra. The ED also claimed that Singhal purchased as many as 13 insurance policies by paying a premium of Rs 80.81 lakh and closed them before the completion of their tenure and got Rs 84.64 lakh against it.

The ED also informed that Singhal transferred Rs 16.57 lakh to the three bank accounts related to CA Suman Kumar. The ED is said to have gathered sufficient primary evidence to suggest that she is in close connection with CA Sunman Kumar and had financial transactions with him.

Before her arrest, ED had conducted raids at several locations, including that of Pooja Singhal, in connection with a money laundering case linked to alleged embezzlement of over Rs 18 crore MGNREGA funds in Khunti district during 2008-2011.

The raids were conducted at a total of 18 locations including Bihar, Rajasthan, Haryana, NCR as well as Ranchi, Khunti and Dhanbad in Jharkhand. Singhal, as Chatra Deputy Commissioner, had also been accused of paying Rs 6 crore in advance to the two NGOs – Welfare Point and Prerna Niketan for musli farming, which, actually was never done. In addition to that, while being Deputy Commissioner in Palamu, she was charged of transferring 83 acres of forest land to a private company for mining, a matter which is related to Kathautia Coal Mines.

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