New Delhi, Jun 16 The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted protection from arrest to Bihar-based contractor Rishu Shree, who is accused of acting as a middleman and charging commissions on total tender values to facilitate awarding of Bihar government contracts to specific companies.
A partial working day bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice V Mohana took note of submissions of senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, appearing for the contractor, and asked the Enforcement Directorate not to arrest him for the next four weeks.
"We grant protection for four weeks with the liberty to file a bail application before the (Patna) High Court. The High Court is requested to decide the bail application within the period of protection," the CJI said in the order.
The bench, however, refused to interfere with the high court's order of May 18 rejecting the plea of the accused seeking quashing of the FIRs.
During the hearing, the CJI said that the accused did not seek bail before the high court and rather sought quashing of the cases lodged by the ED against him.
"The problem is you have not filed the bail application. You went there for the quashing. For quashing the High court may have limitations but it is not the case for the grant of bail," the CJI said.
The plea, filed through lawyer Manohar Pratap, before the top court raised the questions regarding the "derivative use" of statements recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The Patna High Court, in its order of May 18, 2026, had dismissed Rishu Shree's petition, holding that an ECIR (Enforcement Case Information Report) is an "internal document" and not a statutory one akin to an FIR.
It had said that ECIRs are generally immune from quashing at the investigative stage.
The high court further held that the ED officials are not "police officers" and therefore the safeguards of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) regarding confessions do not strictly apply to Section 50 PMLA proceedings.
Shree, an alleged associate of senior IAS officer Sanjeev Hans, has accused the ED of "evergreening" its jurisdiction by initiating multiple, parallel investigations based on the same factual basis and investigative material.
The legal battle stems from a series of investigations that began with a 2023 FIR involving allegations against IAS officer Sanjeev Hans and ex-MLA Gulab Yadav.
While the original investigation focused on specific financial transactions, the ED subsequently registered a second case alleging a "larger conspiracy" involving the manipulation of government tenders across various Bihar departments, including BUIDCO and the Water Resources Department.
The ED alleged that Shree acted as a middleman, charging 5-7 per cent commissions on total tender values to facilitate the awarding of contracts to specific companies.
The ED claims to have recovered 61 sale deeds worth over Rs 58 crore and details of international travel sponsored for high-ranking officials.
The plea sought quashing of the ECIR and all consequential proceedings besides protection against any coercive action, including arrest, during the pendency of the petition.
