HC grants anticipatory bail to ED officer in bribery case

THE Kerala High Court granted anticipatory bail to Enforcement Directorate (ED) officer Shekhar Kumar, who is facing serious corruption charges in a case registered by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB), Ernakulam unit.

A bench of Justice A. Badharudeen has allowed the bail application.

Shekhar Kumar, currently serving as Assistant Director at the ED’s Kochi office, was accused of demanding a bribe of ₹2 crore from a businessman under investigation. The anticipatory bail was granted by Justice A Badharudeen.

Kumar has been named as the prime accused in the case, which involves allegations of bribery under Section 7(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act and criminal conspiracy under Section 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The case emerged after a man claiming to be an ED agent was caught red-handed while accepting ₹2 lakh from a businessman, Aneesh Babu, who is under the ED scanner for his involvement in cashew trading operations. In his complaint, Babu alleged that the total bribe demand amounted to ₹2 crore in exchange for dropping the case against him.

Besides Kumar, three other individuals were named in the FIR. They were arrested but later released on bail by a Vigilance Court, which observed that the reasons for their arrest were not adequately communicated.

In his bail plea, Kumar denied all allegations and maintained that he had no connection with the co-accused. He asserted that the charges were a malicious attempt by the complainant to obstruct the ED’s ongoing investigation. He further claimed that Babu had been evading law enforcement for several years and was now fabricating the bribery allegation to avoid prosecution.

“It would be a travesty of justice if the applicant, a public servant with an unblemished service record, is subjected to arrest and incarceration based on unverified claims,” Kumar stated in his plea.