Suspended Chhattisgarh Officer Saumya Chaurasia Granted Bail in Coal Scam, Release Uncertain Due to Pending Cases

Raipur
Suspended state administrative service officer Saumya Chaurasia, who has been imprisoned in connection with the Chhattisgarh coal scam, has been granted bail. A Division Bench of the Supreme Court approved her interim bail on Wednesday. However, her release from jail remains uncertain.
It is reported that Saumya has been granted conditional bail in the money laundering case. The conditions state that she must appear before the trial court regularly, and her passport will remain with the trial court. There has been no hearing yet regarding the case filed by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) and the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).

The case was heard by Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan. Saumya Chaurasia was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in December 2022, and since then, she has been imprisoned in Raipur Central Jail.
According to senior advocate Siddharth Dave, representing Saumya, stated that his client has spent about one year and nine months in custody and has not been released even once during this period. Moreover, the trial has not even begun. Three co-accused have already been granted interim bail.
On the other hand, according to the Additional Solicitor General, representing the ED, argued that Saumya, being a civil servant, is in a different category compared to the three individuals granted interim bail. The case requires detailed hearings, and the ASG requested more time to submit a response.
The ED launched an investigation into a Rs 500 crore illegal collection scheme related to the alleged coal scam in Chhattisgarh. A money laundering case was registered following this. Rules were altered to facilitate the collection, and assets, both movable and immovable, were acquired using the proceeds, including several benami properties.

In this case, the ED arrested several individuals on different dates, including Suryakant Tiwari, coal washery operator Sunil Agrawal, IAS officers Sameer Vishnoi and Ranu Sahu, and Saumya Chaurasia. The ED claims that the scam amounted to approximately Rs 500 crore.