Suspended IAS officer Pooja Singhal has been released from the high-security Birsa Munda Central Jail after spending over 28 months behind bars. Her bail was granted by the Special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court following a petition she filed seeking relief from judicial custody.
Singhal has witnessed many ups and downs in her legal battle because bail was denied by the Supreme Court for earlier pleas. The apex court granted her interim bail in February 2023 to take care of her sick daughter. The petition by Singhal was heard by the court under PMLA in Ranchi, which reserved its decision after hearing arguments from both the counsel for Singhal and the Enforcement Directorate.
A significant point in her legal fight was the argument under the new PMLA provisions, which allows for bail if the period of judicial custody amounts to one-third of the sentence in question. According to reports, the court considered her prolonged detention—28 months—to assess her plea.
It centres on accusations of corruption in the alleged misappropriation of funds for MGNREGA, the largest rural employment scheme conceived by the Centre. For example, it alleges that the officer of the IAS 2000 batch accessed laundered money through the wrongful exercise of her authority as Mines Secretary and Deputy Commissioner in various districts.
The court had also directed the superintendent of Birsa Munda jail to clarify this at the duration of judicial custody for Singhal while the superintendent fielded a formal response before the court's decision. Thus, this latest event signals to Pooja Singhal's relief following long stretches of legal hurdles.
The decision of the court was a new twist in one of the most high-profile cases of corruption in Jharkhand. It also remains another argument for additional legal manoeuvres because of the ongoing investigation.
