SC to Hear Pooja Singhal’s Plea Against Money Laundering Case on September 15

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on September 15 a plea filed by suspended IAS officer Pooja Singhal, challenging a Jharkhand High Court order that dismissed her petition seeking quashing of a cognisance order in a money laundering case.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana is likely to hear the matter.

Singhal, a 2000-batch IAS officer and 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 ₹18-crore MGNREGA scam.

The ED action was linked to alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Centre's flagship rural employment scheme in Jharkhand. Singhal remained in jail for more than two years before securing bail. Her suspension was subsequently revoked.

Singhal had approached the Jharkhand High Court seeking quashing of the July 19, 2022 cognisance order passed by the PMLA court in Ranchi in connection with ECIR case 03 of 2018.

In her plea, she argued that cognisance of offences under Sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was taken without complying with the mandatory requirement of prior sanction under Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

The High Court, however, rejected her plea, holding that prior sanction under Section 197 CrPC was not necessary for prosecution involving alleged personal "illegal acts".

In July 2022, the ED filed a prosecution complaint against several accused, including Singhal, her husband Abhishek Jha, chartered accountant Suman Kumar, junior engineer Ram Binod Sinha, assistant engineer Rajendra Jain, and executive engineers Jai Kishore Choudhary and Sashi Prakash.

The Supreme Court's decision on Singhal's plea could have implications for the legal challenge concerning the requirement of prior sanction in such proceedings.