The Jharkhand High Court rejected bail to the former Deputy Commissioner in the Army Land Sale Case
Title: Chhavi Ranjan vs Union of India
Decided on: 4th October, 2023
Cr.M.P. No. 2578/2023
CORAM: Hon’ble Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi
Introduction
Last Monday, the Jharkhand High Court denied Chhavi Ranjan’s request for bail in the army land sale case, who is a former deputy commissioner of Ranch. The former Deputy Commissioner had petitioned the high court for his release on the grounds of non-submission of the charge sheet within the allotted time.
Facts of the Case
Between July 2020 and July 2022, the petitioner held the position of Deputy Commissioner in Ranchi. On April 5, 2023, the petitioner was detained by the Enforcement Directorate on suspicion of assisting in the alleged irregularities in the registration and mutation of the landed properties in Ranchi.
Utilising Bagchi’s fictitious ownership, the petitioner and others are accused of buying a priceless property worth crores for just Rs. 25 lakhs. In this transaction, the petitioner allegedly abused his position of authority. On June 19, 2023, the court admitted the case, and on July 10, 2023, the petitioner’s plea for default bail was denied. However, under the PMLA Act, investigations into numerous properties are still ongoing.
Courts analysis and decision
It was observed that the inquiry had already been concluded in the first Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) in which the petitioner was being held in custody.
Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi also observed, “It appears that the materials which has come in the first ECIR, the investigation in the first case is complete and the learned court has taken the cognizance on 19.06.2023. Thus, it cannot be said that the investigation is still pending so far as ECIR/18/2022 is concerned.”
Expounding on Section 44 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, the Court stated that even after the final report was delivered, the Enforcement Directorate could continue with subsequent complaints and additional investigations. The court further remarked that it was impossible to claim that the investigation into ECIR/18/2022 was still ongoing because the materials from the first ECIR showed that it was concluded and that the court had taken cognizance on June 19, 2023.
The Court observed, “Further in view of the above discussion made hereinabove, the Court finds that the materials which are on the record disclosed that it was a final report. Further merely because certain facets of the matter called for further investigation it does not lead to a conclusion that final report is anything other than a final report. The petitioner is arrested on 04.05.2023 and after completion of the investigation, the prosecution report was filed on 12.06.2023 and, therefore, Sub-Section (2) of Section 167 of Cr.P.C stood fully complied with the facts of the present case.”
The Court determined that this is not a situation in which the petitioner should be granted default bail according to section 167(2) of the Cr.P.C. in light of the aforementioned facts, justifications, and reasoning.
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Written by- Aashi Narayan