PNS
Ranchi
Suspended IAS officer Vinay Chaubey received significant relief from the Supreme Court on Friday. The Supreme Court granted his bail plea while hearing the Hazaribagh forest land scam case. Following the court’s order, he will now be released from jail.
Chaubey had approached the Supreme Court after the Jharkhand High Court rejected his bail plea. During the hearing, it was submitted on his behalf that he had been in judicial custody in connection with this case since November 2025. Meanwhile, other accused individuals in the same case—Vinay Singh and his wife Snigdha Singh—had already been granted bail by the court.
During the hearing, when a satisfactory answer was not provided to a question posed by the court, the bench remarked that even the accused’s counsel did not possess full knowledge of the facts of the case.
Opposing the bail, the state government argued that Vinay Chaubey is an influential person and could influence individuals connected to the case upon his release. The government also stated that he is an accused in other cases as well.
After hearing all parties, the Supreme Court ordered Vinay Chaubey’s release on bail. However, the court granted the State Government permission to approach the court to seek the cancellation of bail should there be any violation of the bail conditions set by the lower court.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had registered a Preliminary Enquiry (PE) in the Hazaribagh forest land scam case in August 2015. A regular FIR was registered approximately 10 years later. It is alleged that the owner of Nexgen, Vinay Singh and his wife Snigdha Singh used coercion to get forest land mutated in their favor during the 2020-21 period.
The investigation also alleges that around Rs 3.16 crore in cash was deposited into a company named Brahmastra Education Private Limited between 2010 and 2015. Vinay Singh’s wife, Snigdha Singh, serves as a director of this company.
