The Supreme Court set to hear a plea from Odisha Administrative Service officer Bijaya Ketan Sahoo. Sahoo is seeking anticipatory bail in a money laundering case initiated by the Enforcement Directorate. The case involves allegations of possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court scheduled to hear a plea filed by Bijaya Ketan Sahoo, an Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) officer, seeking anticipatory bail in a money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The case involves allegations of Sahoo possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
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According to the cause list published on the SC’s website, a vacation bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka and Rajesh Bindal will hear the matter on June 24.
Earlier, the Orissa High Court, in its May 10 order, refused to grant anticipatory bail to Sahoo. The High Court noted that a prima facie case exists against the OAS officer, as he involved in the acquisition of properties using the “proceeds of crime.”
However, a separate bench of the High Court, led by Justice Chittaranjan Das, directed that if Sahoo appears before the Special Court and applies for regular bail, the same shall be considered on its own merits.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) initiated an investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after the Cuttack Vigilance Police Station registered an FIR against Odisha Financial Official Nalini Prusty, her husband Bijaya Ketan Sahoo, and other family members.
The FIR alleged that the bureaucrat couple possessed assets disproportionate to their known sources of income, amounting to approximately Rs. 5 crore.
In 2022, assets worth Rs. 3.94 crore belonging to the bureaucratic couple seized under the anti-money laundering legislation. Investigations disclosed that the couple had funnelled their unreported income into various properties and bank investments, both in their names and in the name of Debaki Prusty, the mother of one of the officers.
These assets included two flats in Bhubaneswar valued at Rs.1.8 crore, furniture and interior items worth Rs.1.34 crore, a flat in Puri town worth Rs. 21.4 lakh, a three-story building in Bhubaneswar valued at Rs. 49.6 lakh, six plots in Bhubaneswar and Jatni valued at Rs. 58 lakh, fixed deposits in four banks totalling Rs.1.24 crore, savings account deposits of Rs. 22 lakh, household items worth Rs.46 lakh, and gold and diamond jewellery estimated at Rs. 40 lakh.
The ED’s investigation further revealed that the Sahoo couple acquired six plots and flats, and had constructed a triple-storied building in Bhubaneswar’s Chandrasekharpur, all in the name of a relative who had no independent source of income.
Based on the ED’s complaint, the PMLA court in Bhubaneswar issued summons to Bijaya Ketan Sahoo, directing him to appear before the court.