SC Refuses To Halt Trial Of IAS Officer Pooja Singhal
Ms Arora said when the objection with regard to non-grant of sanction was taken, the ED argued that under the new law, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), there was a provision of "automatic deemed sanction".
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to quash a trial court order taking cognisance of a money laundering charge against Jharkhand IAS officer Pooja Singhal, allowing her trial to continue.
Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, appearing for the Enforcement Directorate, told a three-judge bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana that the cognisance of the offence was taken a long time ago.
Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, appearing for Singhal, said that sanction to prosecute an administrative officer as provided under Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) was not granted in this case.
Section 197 of CrPC says, "When any person who is or was a judge or magistrate or a public servant not removable from his office save by or with the sanction of the government, is accused of any offence alleged to have been committed by him while acting or purporting to act in the discharge of his official duty, no court shall take cognisance of such offence except with the previous sanction…"
Ms Arora said when the objection with regard to non-grant of sanction was taken, the ED argued that under the new law, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), there was a provision of "automatic deemed sanction".
She said Ms Singhal was not an accused in the corruption case, and so far as the money laundering case is concerned, she was acting in her official capacity.
Justice Bagchi said more than ₹19 crore was recovered from Ms Singhal.
Refusing to grant any relief at the moment, the apex court said the grant of sanction is a mixed question of law and fact, and it has to be ascertained whether the officer was discharging her official functions when the alleged offence took place.
"We would like to keep the issue of sanction open to be adjudicated along with other evidence at the appropriate stage of the proceeding," the top court said.
The ED arrested Ms Singhal, a former Jharkhand mines department secretary, on May 11, 2022, following raids at properties linked to her in connection with an alleged scam worth ₹18 crore in the implementation of MGNREGA, the Centre's flagship rural employment scheme at the time.
