In a major relief to former Deputy Commissioner of Ranchi, IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan, was granted bail by the Supreme Court with certain conditions, clearing the way for his release from jail after nearly a year and a half in judicial custody.
Ranjan was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on May 4, 2023, in connection with an alleged land scam under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
He had been lodged in jail after both the PMLA special court and the Jharkhand High Court rejected his bail pleas. The High Court, led by Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad, had denied him bail on August 6, 2024, citing the seriousness of the charges.
Following the rejection of his petitions in the lower courts, Ranjan approached the Supreme Court seeking relief. His case was heard by a bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymala Bagchi, which approved his bail on Friday.
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The case pertains to the illegal sale and purchase of land in Bariatu area, located under the Bargai circle of Ranchi, which was originally under the possession of the Indian Army. The ED alleges that the land was fraudulently sold using fake ownership documents.
Along with Chhavi Ranjan, the ED has named several others as accused in the case, including businessman Vishnu Agrawal, revenue sub-inspector Bhanu Pratap Prasad, land dealer Afzar Ali, Imtiaz Khan, Talha Khan, Faiyaz Khan, Mohammad Saddam, Pradeep Bagchi (the alleged fake landowner), Amit Agrawal, and Dilip Ghosh.
With the Supreme Court’s order, Chhavi Ranjan’s release from jail is now imminent, marking a significant legal victory for the suspended IAS officer in the long-running Ranchi land scam case.
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