Ankit Tiwari bribery case: Supreme Court adjourns hearing on ED plea

New Delhi [India], July 18 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned the hearing on the Directorate of Enforcement’s (ED) plea seeking transfer of investigation into bribery allegations against its officer from Tamil Nadu’s DVAC to CBI.

A bench of justices, Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan adjourned the hearing after the ED counsel apprised the court that Additional Solicitor General SV Raju representing the probe agency, is not in the town.

The court was hearing an ED plea seeking the transfer of the investigation into bribery allegations against one of its officers from Tamil Nadu State authorities to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Earlier, the top court granted interim bail to ED official Ankit Tiwari, who was arrested by the Tamil Nadu Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) in December 2023 in the alleged bribery case. However, the court imposed various conditions on Ankit Tiwari including not to influence witnesses, nor to tamper with evidence and not to leave the State of Tamil Nadu without permission while granting bail.

Ankit Tiwari has challenged Madras High Court order dismissing his bail plea in the money laundering case. The top court has asked Tamil Nadu government to file reply on Ankit Tiwari plea.

The Tamil Nadu Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) in December arrested an officer of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) alleging that he had been caught “red-handed” while accepting a bribe of Rs 20 lakh from a doctor in Dindigul district.

According to Tamil Nadu officials, Ankit Tiwari, along with his team of ED officers, had been threatening several people and receiving bribes in the name of closing their case in the Enforcement Directorate.