The Jharkhand High Court on Wednesday delivered an important ruling on a petition filed by two officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), directing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the case.
The court of Justice SK Dwivedi also directed the CBI to register an FIR and begin a detailed investigation into the matter. The High Court had earlier reserved its verdict on February 24 after completing the hearing in the case.
The case is linked to Airport Police Station Case No. 05/2026 in Ranchi, in which one Santosh Kumar had lodged an FIR against ED officials. Following the complaint, Ranchi Police had conducted a raid at the ED office, triggering controversy.
Challenging the police action, the Enforcement Directorate moved the Jharkhand High Court by filing a writ petition. In its plea, the ED sought quashing of the FIR and requested that the entire matter be investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The agency also urged the court to direct registration of a case against complainant Santosh Kumar.
Santosh Kumar is accused of embezzling nearly ₹23 crore of government funds in connection with an alleged drinking water scam. The ED has already registered an ECIR against him in the matter.
According to the ED, Santosh Kumar had appeared at the agency’s office for questioning on January 12, 2026. During the interrogation, he allegedly became agitated and struck his own head with a jug kept nearby, sustaining minor injuries. Subsequently, he filed a complaint at Airport Police Station accusing ED officials of assault.
During the hearing, the ED was represented by Solicitor General of India SV Raju along with advocates AK Das and Saurabh Kumar.
The state government was represented by senior Supreme Court advocate S Nagamuthu, Advocate General Rajeev Ranjan and advocate Deepankar. The complainant Santosh Kumar was represented by advocate Sumit Garodia.
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