Raipur: A Raipur court on Friday rejected the bail plea of Saumya Chaurasia, the former Deputy Secretary to Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, who was arrested on Dec. 2, 2022, in an alleged money laundering case related to the coal scam.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had opposed the bail citing that the investigation is at an initial stage and Chaurasia being an influential person might affect the probe. Meanwhile, the defence team plans to file a bail application in the High Court.
The now suspended state service officer Soumya Chaurasia is now lodged in a prison here. "Saumya Chaurasia is an influential woman. Releasing her on bail will hamper the investigation which is at an initial stage,” the government pleader representing the ED submitted.
The defence claimed that the sections under which Chaurasia was arrested are mere allegations and that the ED till now has failed to present the charge sheet before the court. Chaurasia has no criminal record in the past and has small children to attend to at home.
It would be just to enlarge her on bail on humanitarian grounds, the counsel argued. but the court rejected it. After getting the certified copy of the court order, we will file a bail petition in the High Court, Chaurasia’s counsel said.
Also read: Chhattisgarh: ED conducting raids on IAS, bizmen, political leader's residences
ED has provisionally attached movable and 91 immovable properties worth Rs 152.31 crore belonging to arrested bureaucrats including Chaurasia, Sameer Vishnoi, and Suryakant Tiwari, among others. Out of the properties attached by ED, 65 belong to Suryakant Tiwari, 21 belong to Saumya Chaurasia and five belong to Sameer Bishnoi.
The attached properties include cash, jewellery, flats, coal washeries and plots of land located in Chhattisgarh. The ED, through its investigation, has established the loss to the exchequer as Rs 540 crore in the past 2 years due to the scam. ED had already arrested Sameer Vishnoi, Sunil Agarwal and Laxmikant Tiwari on October 13.
The bail applications of CEO of Chhattisgarh Infotech Promotion Society (CHIPS) Sameer Vishnoi, coal baron Sunil Agarwal and lawyer-businessman Laxmikant Tiwari have already been rejected by the court.
