The Jharkhand High Court rejected the bail application of jailed senior IAS officer Vinay Choubey (IAS:1999:JH) on Tuesday in the land scam case. Choubey had moved a bail petition before the High Court in a case registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) when he was posted as Deputy Commissioner of the Hazaribag district. Choubey has been facing allegations of being involved in the sale of sewayat lands in the district illegally. He has been in custody since May 20, 2025.
Justice Anubha Rawat Choudhary had reserved the order after completing the hearing and pronounced his verdict on Tuesday, rejecting Choubey’s bail application.
The suspended IAS officer is alleged to have interpolated records of forest lands in the district, got the nature of the land changed through fake documents, and then transferred them to his aide Vinay Singh. Five plots of forest land were allegedly transferred in favour of Singh in an illegal manner.
The issue came to light in 2013, after which all the revenue records created for the forest lands were cancelled and a probe was initiated by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
After conducting the detailed investigation, the ACB obtained the sanction to prosecute Choubey in September last year. He is currently behind bars.
This is not the only case in which Choubey is involved. He is also an accused in the liquor scam in which he was granted a default bail by a lower court due to non-submission of the charge sheet within the stipulated time frame.
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