The Supreme Court has granted interim bail to Ankit Tiwari, an officer of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), who was arrested in December last year by the Tamil Nadu Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) on charges of bribery.
Under the conditions of bail, a bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan directed Tiwari not to leave the State without official permission and to surrender his passport if required.
The Court’s decision came during the hearing of several petitions related to the DVAC’s bribery case against Tiwari. These petitions included Tiwari’s challenges against the dismissal of his applications for regular bail and statutory bail by the Madras High Court. Additionally, the ED had filed a petition alleging non-cooperation from the Tamil Nadu government in sharing FIRs related to money laundering cases.
The ED had also requested that the investigation into the bribery case against Tiwari, currently being handled by the DVAC, be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Tiwari was apprehended by the DVAC last year after allegedly being caught accepting a bribe of ₹20 lakh.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had stayed the DVAC’s probe against Tiwari and suggested the possibility of a judicial body monitoring cases where both State and Central agencies, such as the ED and the CBI, are involved in the investigation.
During the recent hearing, it was noted that the ED had not submitted a rejoinder in their case against the TN government. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju assured the Court that it would be filed soon. In response, the Court granted two weeks for the submission and instructed the DVAC to file a counter affidavit within the same period in response to Tiwari’s plea for regular bail.
