SC grants bail to two persons in illegal mining case in Jharkhand

New Delhi [India], August 12 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to two persons in connection with a money laundering case related to illegal mining in Jharkhand.

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih granted bail to accused Bhagwan Bhagat and Sunil Yadav in the case.

Senior Advocate Pramod Kumar Dubey, advocate-on-record Sonam Gupta and advocate Kaushik Moitra represented the accused Bhagwan Bhagat in the matter and submitted that sans a predicate offence, the accused could not be left to languish in custody.

Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Bhagat on July 7, 2023, accusing him of conducting illegal mining and assisting the laundering of proceeds of crime for another person. Bhagat has challenged the Jharkhand High Court order dated April 12, rejecting his bail.

Bhagat was arrested when he appeared for the seventh time in compliance with the summons issued to him by the respondent over the course of one-and-a-half years of investigation.

“While rejecting the petitioner’s bail, the High Court has overlooked the fact that the respondent’s prosecution under Section 3 of the PMLA, 2002, is bereft of any identified scheduled offence from which the petitioner has received or dealt with any proceeds of crime, which is the sina qua non for sustaining a prosecution under the PMLA,” the petition said.

The petition further stated that the High Court has been erroneously swayed by the large number of FIRs (54 FIRs) clubbed by the respondent into the ECIR.

“The petitioner (Bhagat) has not been accused of any predicate offence and the respondent failed to establish any connection between the petitioner and the alleged scheduled offence or a criminal activity relatable to the scheduled offence,” it said.

The ED has alleged that the vehicles carrying the mined items (mainly stone chips) had to cross Barharwa toll before reaching the main roads. It was also revealed that, apart from mining under valid licences, a vast quantity of mining is being carried out illegally in Sahibganj District and adjoining areas.