Rajasthan High Court Denies Bail To ED Officer, His Associate Arrested By State ACB For Allegedly Accepting ₹15 Lakh Bribe

The Rajasthan High Court last week denied bail to an Officer of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and his associate who were arrested last year in November by the State's Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 15 lakh for settling a case related to a chit fund.

A bench of Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand rejected their bail pleas noting that the economic offences are grave offences affecting the economy of the country as a whole and have serious repercussions on the development of the country.

The Court strongly discarded the contention raised by the accused persons that since a sanction was not granted for a considerable time by the department for their prosecution, and therefore, they should be granted to the petitioners.

"...in the instant case, the period of custody of the petitioner is hardly four months and till date the department has not taken any decision with regard to grant or not grant of sanction against the petitioner...The offence allegedly committed by the petitioner Nawalkishore pertains to misuse of his official status and position while functioning as an officer of the Enforcement Directorate...The petitioners cannot take the benefit of the situation that no prosecution sanction has been issued till date even after passing of four months since their arrest," the Court remarked.

The Court added that a calculated crime had been committed by the petitioners with a deliberate desire for personal profit and that such an act of the petitioners amounted to an offence of white-collar crime which has been taken seriously by the Apex Court.