The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed Ankit Tiwari, an officer of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), who was arrested in 2023 by the Tamil Nadu Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) in a bribery case, to travel to Madhya Pradesh from Tamil Nadu to meet his family.
The top court, while granting bail to Tiwari in March this year, had directed him not to leave Tamil Nadu without prior permission. Tiwari today prayed for modification of the bail condition.
A Bench of Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta and Ujjal Bhuyan allowed the request and permitted him to travel to Madhya Pradesh and remain there till November 9.
However, he will have to return to TN for trial if hearing dates are so fixed prior to that by the trial court.
"The order dated 20.03.2024 is modified/clarified to the extent that the petitioner is permitted to visit the State of Madhya Pradesh to meet his family members/relatives upto 09.11.2024. However, if there is any date fixed by the Trial Court before 09.11.2024, the petitioner shall remain present before the Trial Court on the date fixed," the Bench stated.
Tiwari was arrested last year by the DVAC after allegedly having been caught accepting a bribe of ₹20 lakh. The top court later stayed the DVAC probe against him.
In April, the top court sought DVAC's response on Tiwari's plea for default bail. Notably, the ED also approached the Supreme Court seeking transfer of the probe into the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Ankit Tiwari was represented by advocate Shivam Singh. Senior Advocate Amit Anand Tiwari appeared for Tamil Nadu.
[Read order]