MNREGA Scam: Supreme Court declines anticipatory bail to suspended IAS officer's husband

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday declined to grant anticipatory bail to Abhishek Jha, the husband of suspended Jharkhand cadre IAS officer Pooja Singhal, in a money laundering case in connection with the alleged MNREGA scam in the state.

A vacation bench comprising justices Surya Kant and M.M. Sundresh scheduled the matter for next hearing on July 5, and declined to grant any relief to Jha, who had moved the court against a Jharkhand High Court order passed in May that denied him bail in the case.

Singhal is the main accused in the scam allegedly involving embezzlement of public funds of Rs 18.07 crore. She was the Deputy Commissioner of Khunti district then.

On May 18, the high court had junked Jha's anticipatory bail plea and asked him to surrender before the court within four weeks.

The prosecution had claimed that Jha's fortunes soared after he got married to Singhal, and the ill-gotten cash, which were allegedly the proceeds of crime made by the officer through corrupt practices, reached his bank accounts.

However, Jha had contested this argument claiming that the money was his legitimate income from his job in Australia.