In a recent decision, the Supreme Court granted permission for Enforcement Directorate (ED) officer Ankit Tiwari, arrested on bribery charges in 2023, to travel from Tamil Nadu to Madhya Pradesh. Tiwari, who was taken into custody by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs. 20 lakh, had been confined to Tamil Nadu as a condition of his bail granted in March 2023.
The modification of Tiwari’s bail conditions was deliberated by a bench consisting of Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta, and Ujjal Bhuyan, who approved his request to travel, pending a detailed order. This development comes amidst ongoing legal battles and scrutiny of the case under the apex court’s oversight.
Following his arrest, the Supreme Court had intervened, staying the DVAC’s investigation and temporarily relieving Tiwari. Subsequent appeals in April saw the Supreme Court requesting a response from the DVAC regarding Tiwari’s plea for default bail and entertained a petition from the ED to transfer the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), citing potential biases in the current probe.
