The Special PMLA Court of Prabhat Kumar Sharma on Tuesday deferred hearing of bail petition of suspended IAS officer Pooja Singhal till July 4.
Pooja Singhal is under judicial custody at Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi under the charges of money laundering. She was the secretary of the mining department when the ED arrested her on May 11 in a case related to the MGNREGA scheme scam in Khunti district during 2009 and 2010 when she was the DC here.
Pooja Singhal filed a bail petition on Monday through her lawyer Bishwajit Mukherjee. The matter was taken up for hearing on Tuesday. But the ED sought time to file a counter reply to her bail petition. The court agreed and extended the hearing on July 4.
According to sources Pooja Singhal has sought bail on the ground of her health. Currently lodged at Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi she has urged before the court that she is not keeping a good health and she needs better treatment. Hence she should be granted bail. She has also questioned her custody. She has maintained that ED implicated her with fabricated evidence.
The ED on May 6 carried out a massive raid at 25 places in five states including the residential premise of Pooja Singhal in Ranchi as well as her chartered accountant Suman Singh.
The directorate seized Rs 19.31 crore from the office and residence of Suman Kumar Singh.
It is alleged that Suman Kumar Singh used to handle the cash of Pooja Singhal.