Supreme Court Expresses Inclination To Grant Interim Bail To Chhattisgarh's Suspended Civil Servant Saumya Chaurasia In PMLA Case

The Supreme Court today expressed an inclination to grant interim bail to Chhattisgarh's suspended civil servant Saumya Chaurasia in a money laundering case.

Chaurasia, former Deputy Secretary to ex-Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, is accused in a money laundering case relating to coal scam. She has been in jail for over 1.5 years now.

The bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan was dealing with Chaurasia's challenge to Chhattisgarh High Court's order dated August 28, 2024, whereby her third bail application was dismissed. Notice was issued on the same on September 13.

Senior Advocate Siddharth Dave, appearing for Chaurasia, urged that she has spent about 1 yr and 9 months in custody, without being let out even once, and the trial has not even commenced. Further, 3 co-accused have been released on interim bail (which orders have been confirmed). Reliance was placed on the Court's recent judgment in Manish Sisodia's case.

Per contra, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, entering appearance for the ED (through VC), submitted that Chaurasia, who was a civil servant (and thus a trustee of the public), stands on a different footing vis-a-vis the 3 persons granted interim bail. Making averments on her role, the ASG equated Chaurasia to the main accused-Suryakant Tiwari and alleged that she received a lot of money. Claiming that the matter required detailed hearing, the ASG requested for time to file a reply.

Initially, after hearing the counsels, Justice Kant expressed that the ASG may take time to file reply but the bench was inclined to grant interim bail to Chaurasia in the meantime.

However, the same was vehemently objected to by the ASG, saying, "that would be the end of the matter...I am yet to come across a case where interim bail was not confirmed".

Taking into account the ASG's objections, and prayer for time, the bench adjourned the matter until tomorrow. Re-listing the case, Justice Kant impressed upon the ASG that if Chaurasia is ultimately found entitled to relief of bail (after a detailed hearing), she would unnecessarily be victim of procedural delay.

Case Title: SAUMYA CHAURASIA v. DIRECTORATE OF ENFORCEMENT, SLP(Crl) No. 12494/2024

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