The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to former Jharkhand Rural Development Minister Alamgir Alam and his former personal secretary Sanjeev Lal in a money laundering case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The order was passed by a bench comprising Justice MM Sundresh and Justice N Kotiswar Singh after hearing detailed arguments from both the prosecution and the defence.
During the proceedings, the ED strongly opposed the bail pleas, calling the case “extremely serious” and involving alleged commission payments and proceeds of crime linked to money laundering. The agency argued that the investigation was still ongoing and that releasing the accused at this stage could hamper the collection of crucial evidence. It also raised concerns about the possibility of witness tampering if bail was granted.
The prosecution further informed the court that statements of several key witnesses were still pending despite earlier directions from the Supreme Court. The ED maintained that the material recovered during searches pointed to a larger network of illicit financial transactions. It urged the court to consider the gravity of the allegations and the stage of the investigation before granting relief to the accused.
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On the other hand, the defence argued that Alamgir Alam, aged 77, had already spent over two years in custody and was suffering from health issues. His counsel also submitted that no direct recovery of cash or incriminating material had been made from his possession. The defence stressed that continued detention was not necessary, especially when investigation progress had slowed significantly.
The case originates from ED raids conducted on May 6, 2024, across multiple locations linked to the accused. During these searches, officials claimed to have recovered ₹32.20 crore in cash from premises associated with Jahangir Alam, along with ₹10.05 lakh and a diary from Sanjeev Lal’s residence. The diary allegedly contained coded entries related to commission payments and financial distributions, forming a key part of the investigation.
Following the raids, Sanjeev Lal and Jahangir Alam were arrested on May 7, 2024, while Alamgir Alam was taken into custody after interrogation on May 15, 2024. The ED has also attached properties worth crores, including ₹4.42 crore linked to Sanjeev Lal and ₹39 crore assets belonging to former chief engineer Virendra Ram. With the Supreme Court’s latest order, both Alam and Lal are set to be released on bail while the investigation continues.
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