Ranchi, April 28 (IANS) Suspended IAS officer Vinay Chaubey, who has been in judicial custody for the past nearly 11 months in the high‑profile Sevayat land irregularities case in Jharkhand, suffered a major setback on Tuesday as the Jharkhand High Court rejected his bail plea.

After the arguments were completed from both sides, the court reserved its order on Thursday, and the decision was pronounced on Tuesday.

The case relates to ACB Case No. 11/2025. Chaubey is accused of playing a role in the illegal purchase and sale of Sevayat land during his tenure as Deputy Commissioner of Hazaribagh. As per the rules in Jharkhand, Sevayat land cannot be sold or purchased.

The investigating agency has alleged that irregularities were committed in land transfers by disregarding established rules and norms, resulting in violations of government provisions.

The bail plea was heard in detail by a bench of Justice Anubha Rawat Choudhary.

Opposing the bail application, Special Public Prosecutor Sumit Garodia, appearing on behalf of the Anti‑Corruption Bureau (ACB), argued that the case was of a serious nature and involved the complicity of several influential persons. He maintained that granting bail at this stage could adversely affect the ongoing investigation.

On the other hand, senior advocate R.S. Mazumdar, representing Chaubey, submitted before the court that his client had been in jail for a long period of time and had been cooperating with the investigation, and therefore deserved bail.

After considering the submissions of both sides, the High Court declined to grant bail to Chaubey.

Apart from Chaubey, the ACB has named a total of 73 accused in the case, including his close associate Vinay Singh, Singh’s wife Snigdha Singh, Hazaribagh MLA Pradeep Prasad, then Circle Officer Shailesh Kumar, and broker Vijay Singh.

The ACB is carrying out a detailed investigation into the matter and continues to probe land‑related documents and financial transactions linked to the case.

–IANS

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