The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday asked several tough questions to the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The court asked what is the conviction rate in Money Laundering Act (PMLA) cases? The court also said that you keep a person in jail for years. A bench of Justice Suryakant, Justice Dipankar Dutta and Justice Ujjwal Bhuiyan was hearing the interim bail plea of Soumya Chaurasia, Deputy Secretary of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.
During this, the bench said that Chaurasia has been in custody for more than a year and nine months, charges are yet to be framed against him and the hearing has not yet started. With this, the court granted interim bail to Saumya Chaurasia. The court took this decision keeping in mind the time spent in her custody and the charges not yet being framed. Saumya Chaurasia has been the former Deputy Secretary of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. She has been accused in the money laundering case related to the coal scam. She has been in jail for the last 1 year and 9 months.
During the hearing, Justice Bhuyan slammed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for their poor conviction rate and tendency to keep people in jail for long periods without framing charges, reports Live Law. “Without framing charges, how long can you keep a person in jail? The maximum punishment is 7 years! What is the conviction rate in PMLA cases? It was said in Parliament that only 41 cases have resulted in conviction. Then? How can you keep a person in jail for years?” Justice Datta wondered if cases in which warrants could not be issued could be a ground for keeping a person in jail. The court eventually granted interim bail and scheduled the next hearing of the case on October 26.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Dutta and Ujjal Bhuiyan was hearing Chaurasia’s plea challenging the August 28, 2024 order of the Chhattisgarh High Court. The High Court had rejected his third bail plea. The Supreme Court granted him interim relief without expressing any opinion and with the objective of giving an opportunity of a comprehensive hearing to the parties. The court directed Chaurasia to fill a bail bond, which will be subject to the satisfaction of the trial court.
The Supreme Court also ordered that the state government should not reinstate Chaurasia in service merely because she has been released on interim bail. She will remain suspended till further orders. Justice Suryakant said that Chaurasia will have to follow the conditions such as appearing before the trial court, not influencing witnesses and not tampering with evidence, surrendering passport and taking permission from the trial court before leaving the country. The key points that the Supreme Court noted in this decision include many things. For example, Chaurasia has served 1 year and 9 months of sentence. Some of the co-accused have got regular or interim bail. Charges have not been framed yet.