The New Indian Express ·
MGNREGA-linked PMLA case: IAS Pooja Singhal challenges cognisance in SC, hearing on September 15
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on September 15 the plea of IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officer Pooja Singhal, challenging the Jharkhand High Court's order dismissing her petition seeking quashing of the cognisance order in a money laundering case related to the alleged MGNREGA scam.
As per the Supreme Court's cause list, a three-judge bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana is likely to hear Singhal's appeal on September 15, Tuesday.
The accused, Singhal, a former Jharkhand mines department secretary, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on May 11, 2022, following raids at properties linked to her in connection with an alleged Rs 18 crore scam in the implementation of MGNREGA, the Centre's flagship rural employment scheme. She was the DC at Khunti in 2009-2010, and she allegedly connived with engineers and embezzled funds.
The ED, during the investigation, unearthed proceeds of crime in various layers. After a search at 30 premises in Ranchi, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Faridabad, Gurugram and Muzaffarpur, the ED recovered and seized Rs 19.76 crore in cash, along with many incriminating documents and digital devices.
She and her businessman husband Abhishek Jha, CA Suman Kumar and others were also raided. Jha claimed the source of money in Pulse Sanjeevani Healthcare Pvt Ltd was savings from his job in Australia and gifts during the tilak and marriage.
She filed a writ petition in 2024 in the Jharkhand High Court seeking quashing of the cognisance order by the PMLA Court, Ranchi, on July 19, 2022, in connection with the case of 2018. She argued that the cognisance under Sections 3 and 4 of the PMLA was taken without the mandatory sanction under Section 197 of the CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure).
But the HC had upheld the cognisance and dismissed her writ petition, after noting that the petitioner had sanctioned funds for development projects which she was not authorised to do and accumulated ill-gotten money. Prima facie, she failed to substantiate how she had obtained all this money, the HC had said.
While rejecting her plea, the HC had said the issue of sanction can be raised before the trial court at any stage, even before the judgment in the case, and termed the cognisance as "not vitiated."
Following this, Singhal, being aggrieved, knocked on the doors of the apex Court seeking relief. The court will hear her appeal on September 15, Tuesday.