Bhubaneswar: The Orissa High Court has granted interim bail for 10 days to Chintan Raghuvanshi, Deputy Director of the Enforcement Directorate’s regional office, who was arrested by the CBI on bribery charges in May this year.
The interim bail was granted on humanitarian grounds, allowing Raghuvanshi to see his newborn baby and attend family events following the birth. The court had earlier heard his petition seeking bail in view of his wife’s pregnancy. However, by the time the petition was under consideration, his wife had already delivered the baby.
Raghuvanshi then filed a revised plea, requesting temporary relief to be with his family. Granting the request, Justice G. Satapathy directed Raghuvanshi to surrender and return to custody immediately after the 10-day bail period ends. The court warned that any violation of this condition would invite coercive action.
Raghuvanshi, a 2013-batch IRS officer, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on May 29 after he was allegedly caught accepting a bribe of ₹20 lakh from a businessman in Sahid Nagar, Bhubaneswar. The businessman had earlier lodged a complaint with the CBI, alleging that Raghuvanshi had demanded ₹2 crore while threatening him with potential ED raids.
Acting on the complaint, the CBI laid a trap and caught the ED official red-handed while accepting a part of the bribe amount.
