Special Court grants bail to businessman in coal scam case

Businessman Manoj Kumar Jayaswal and one more accused in a coal scam case were granted bail by the Rouse Avenue District Court in national capital on Friday.
The Special Judge Arun Bhardwaj in an order passed on Thursday said, “Keeping in view the overall facts and circumstances of the case coupled with the submissions made and the fact that the accused persons were not arrested during the course of the investigation and there are also no allegations that they did not join the investigation, the interests of justice will be met if accused persons namely Manoj Kumar Jayaswal and Ramesh Kumar Jayaswal are ordered to be released on bail upon their furnishing a personal bond and a surety bond each in the sum of Rs.1,00,000/- each, to the satisfaction of this court.”
However, it is directed that none of the accused persons shall leave India without the prior permission of the court. They shall not tamper with the documents/prosecution evidence or approach the prosecution witnesses in any manner, added the court.
The Special Public Prosecutor appearing for ED vehemently opposed the bail application of Manoj Kumar Jayaswal and argued that he can influence and temper with the evidence or the prosecution witnesses and may also delay the trial if he is released on bail.
Advocate Vijay Aggarwal, appearing for Manoj Kumar Jayaswal, stated that Manoj Kumar Jayaswal was not arrested during the course of the investigation and there are also no allegations by the ED that he had not joined their investigation.
He further emphasised that there are no “proceeds of crime” in the present case, which is a “sine qua non” for the prosecution to be initiated in a money laundering case. In 2018, ED alleged that Manoj Kumar Jayaswal, as head of the Abhijeet Group of Companies, engaged in getting coal blocks allocated to his company, M/s Abhijeet Infrastructure Limited, using unscrupulous means, and then used the allocation of the block to inflate the net worth of his company.

Manoj Kumar Jayaswal has nine criminal cases against him, including seven other cases of coal scams. He remains out on bail in all these cases.