Jharkhand High Court on Friday held the transfer of an FIR registered here against three suspended Congress MLAs Irfan Ansari, Rajesh Kachchap and Naman Bixal Kongari, accused in a cash haul case, to West Bengal as improper.
Congress MLA Kumar Jaimangal Singh alias Anup Singh had lodged a complaint with Ranchi's Argora police station, alleging that the three legislators had offered him Rs 10 crore and a ministerial berth for toppling the JMM-led government in Jharkhand. The Congress is a part of the JMM-led government in Jharkhand.
The High Court in its order in connection with a petition filed by the three legislators held that the Jharkhand High Court has jurisdiction to try the case and also observed that tranfer of the case to West Bengal was unwarranted.
The trio are accused of laundering cash to the tune of about Rs 49 lakhs and were nabbed on July 30 last year in a vehicle with the cash in Howrah in West Bengal.
An FIR was registered in the Argora police station by Congress MLA Singh against the three legislators which was transferred to West Bengal.
Ansari, Kachhap and Kongari then moved the Jharkhand High Court challenging the transfer of the case to West Bengal. Moreover, another FIR was also registered by the West Bengal police which had apprehended the three legislators with the cash while travelling in a motor vehicle.
Arguing on behalf of the legislators, their counsel had said that if the FIR was registered in Ranchi it should not have been transferred to West Bengal.
The enforcement directorate last month grilled the three accused MLAs. They have also been suspended by the Congress party.
The MLAs, who are now out on bail, claimed that the money found on them was meant for use to buy sarees for an Adivasi festival in Jharkhand.
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