IAS officer denied bail in money laundering case
A special PMLA court here on Thursday rejected the regular bail plea of IAS officer and former Surendranagar collector Rajendrakumar Patel was arrested in January by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a bribery-linked money laundering case.
The court of special PMLA judge KM Sojitra said it was not inclined to allow the application for regular bail moved by Patel, a 2015-batch Indian Administrative Service officer.
Having considered the nature of evidence as revealing from the complaint and case papers, it “cannot form a prima facie opinion that the applicant is not guilty of having committed/indulged in the offence of money laundering”, the court said.
The ED investigated alleged money laundering involving Patel, deputy mamlatdar, Chandrasingh Mori, and others following the registration of an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The court observed the complaint, prima facie, reveals the IAS officer received Rs 3.12 crore as bribe money as per the ‘hisaab’ sheet, statements of co-accused recorded under section 50 of the PMLA Act and digital records.
“It is required to note that the applicant is facing the charge of offence under section 12, 13(1)(d), 13(2) and 7 of Prevention of Corruption Act and on the basis of said schedule offence, the applicant is also facing charge under the PML Act for having derived Rs.3,12,62,230 of bribe money from illegal activity,” the court noted.
The Gujarat Anti-Corruption Bureau also registered an FIR against Patel and three others on a complaint by the ED in connection with the money laundering probe.
As deputy mamlatdar, Mori was entrusted with title verification and processing of CLU (change of land use) applications under the Saurashtra Gharkhed Tenancy Settlement and Agricultural Lands Ordinance 1949.
Mori allegedly misused his position and collected bribes from applicants for the speedy approval of applications. The bribe amount was calculated on a square metre basis, the ED had said earlier.
