Money laundering case: Very grounds for arrest are ‘illegal’, Jharkhand IAS officer in bail plea

The Enforcement Directorate had alleged that during the investigation into the Army land case, they came to know of a syndicate operating in Jharkhand, leading the agency to Soren who, the agency said, ‘illegally acquired’ a property. However, Soren’s lawyer Kapil Sibal had denied the claim saying that there was ‘no proceeds of crime’ to the offence Soren was arrested for.

The charge against 2011-batch IAS officer Ranjan is that he allegedly played a role in the ‘acquisition’ of 4.55 acres of army land. The ED has alleged that Ranjan “knowingly assisted” one Jagatbhandu Tea Estate Pvt Ltd, a company said to be owned by another accused Amit Kumar Agarwal in acquiring the said land through a “fake sale deed prepared by co-accused Pradeep Bagchi”.

During Friday’s hearing, Ranjan’s lawyer Abhishek Singh, however, submitted to the court that the allegations by the ED, even if accepted true, do not show Ranjan’s involvement in “proceeds of crime” i.e with a property that has a criminal or tainted status.

“In substance, the allegation against the Petitioner is that he facilitated or ‘knowingly assisted’ the acquisition of the Morabadi land by M/s Jagatbandhu through the use of criminal means…however, in order to bring a plausible charge of money-laundering, the prosecution has to allege Ranjan’s involvement with a process or activity connected with property that already has the status or quality of ‘criminal property’,” the bail petition stated.

The bail petition stated that the Ranjan did not derive any pecuniary advantage from the acquisition of the property by the company in question. “Moreover, nothing that can conceivably be characterised as ‘proceeds of crime’ has been recovered from the petitioner or his family,” the bail petition stated.

The ED in its counter-affidavit has said that Ranjan exerted ‘undue influence’ on government officials to procure a favourable report for Bagchi and the property was finally occupied by the company Jagatbandhu in a dishonest manner.

After hearing the arguments, Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad reserved the bail order.

Ranjan has another ED case against him and the further arguments on the bail application is set to come up on March 15.