Supreme Court grants interim bail to former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel's ex-deputy secretary

New Delhi: Supreme Court on Wednesday granted interim bail to Chhattisgarh's suspended civil servant Saumya Chaurasia in a money laundering case being probed by Enforcement Directorate.

A bench comprising justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta and Ujjal Bhuyan granted the interim bail taking into account the amount of time spent by Chaurasia in custody and the fact that charges have not been framed in the case.

Chaurasia, former deputy secretary to former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, has been behind bars for over one year and nine months for her alleged involvement in a coal case.


SC directed that the state government shall not reinstate Chaurasia in service merely because she has been released on interim bail. She will continue on suspension till further orders, the bench clarified.

SC verbally disapproved of ED's low conviction rate while keeping the accused behind bars without even framing charges.

Speaking for the bench, justice Bhuyan verbally remarked, "Without charges being framed, how long can you keep a person in jail?... What is the rate of conviction in PMLA cases? In Parliament, they said only in 41 cases there has been conviction."

The SC judge cornered the federal agency, asking if it can keep an accused "in jail for years".