Ranchi/New Delhi, May 11 (IANS). The Supreme Court on Monday approved the bail plea of former Jharkhand Rural Development Minister Alamgir Alam and his private secretary Sanjeev Lal in the money laundering case related to the much-discussed tender commission scam of Jharkhand’s Rural Development Department. Both these accused are in jail in judicial custody for almost two years.
During the hearing, Alam’s lawyer argued that his client is in custody since May 2024. He mentioned the delay in the trial proceedings, which is due to the supplementary chargesheets being filed repeatedly by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Sanjeev Lal had also filed a bail petition on the same grounds. The case pertains to alleged irregularities and money laundering in the tender process.
ED has filed a charge sheet in this case against former minister Alamgir Alam, his OSD Sanjeev Lal and his domestic assistant Jahangir Alam. Earlier, on May 6, 2024, ED had conducted a massive raid in Ranchi. During this period, about Rs 32.2 crore in cash was recovered from the residence of Sanjeev Lal’s assistant Jahangir Alam. At the same time, Rs 10.5 lakh were recovered from Sanjeev Lal’s residence and Rs 2.3 lakh were recovered from his office in the Secretariat.
A diary was also seized, which allegedly recorded details of commission transactions. After investigation, Alamgir Alam was arrested on 15 May 2024. The ED has alleged that an organized network was working to collect commission in return for allotting government tenders. According to the investigating agency, the contractors were allegedly required to pay around three percent of the total contract price as commission.
Of this, about 1.35 per cent of the amount was reportedly delivered to the then minister through his private secretary, while 0.65 to 1 per cent was distributed among senior officials of the department and the remaining amount was shared among other employees, including engineers.
–IANS
SNC/AS
