New Delhi — The Supreme Court of India on Thursday rejected the bail pleas of former Jharkhand Rural Development Minister Alamgir Alam and his private secretary Sanjeev Lal in a money laundering case linked to an alleged tender commission scam, while directing that the trial be fast-tracked.
A bench of Justice M.M. Sundresh and Justice N. Kotiswar Singh declined relief to both accused, who have been in judicial custody for more than 18 months. The court instructed the trial court to record statements of key witnesses within four weeks and said the next hearing would be scheduled only after the examination is completed.
During the hearing, Alam’s counsel argued that the 76-year-old leader has been in custody since May 2024 and pointed to delays in the trial, allegedly due to repeated supplementary charge sheets filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The defence also cited the absence of prosecution sanction, but the court found the grounds insufficient to grant bail.
Sanjeev Lal, who sought bail on similar arguments, was also denied relief for now.
The case stems from an ED probe into alleged irregularities in the Rural Development Department. On May 6, 2024, the agency conducted raids at premises linked to Lal and his associate Jahangir Alam, recovering ₹32.20 crore in cash. Officials also seized ₹10.05 lakh and a diary purportedly detailing commission transactions.
Following the investigation, Alamgir Alam was arrested on May 15, 2024. The ED has alleged that an organised network was operating to collect commissions in exchange for allocation of government tenders.
According to the agency, contractors were allegedly required to pay about three per cent of the contract value as commission. Of this, around 1.35 per cent was allegedly routed to the then minister through his private secretary, while 0.65 to 1 per cent was distributed among senior departmental officials. The remaining amount was reportedly shared among other personnel, including engineers.
The ED claims the alleged scam generated illicit proceeds exceeding ₹90 crore in connection with tender allocations worth approximately ₹3,048 crore. Emphasising the seriousness of the allegations, the apex court stressed the need for an expeditious trial while denying bail to the accused.
With inputs from IANS