HC rejects brother’s bail extension plea of chief engineer in Jhajharia bribery case of CBI

Bilaspur: The Chhattisgarh High Court has dismissed a petition filed by Kunal Anand, brother of South East Central Railway (#SECR) Chief Engineer Vishal Anand, in connection with the ongoing Central Bureau of Investigation (#CBI) probe into a bribery case. The matter was listed before the bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Kumar Sinha on Friday, 26.09.2025.

According to court records, the criminal miscellaneous petition had been filed seeking extension of interim bail earlier granted to the applicant by the court on July 23, 2025 in MCRC No. 5150/2025.

When the case was called out, there was no appearance or representation on behalf of the petitioner. As a result, the bench dismissed the high-profile bribery investigation by the CBI in Bilaspur. In July, Chief Engineer Vishal Anand was arrested for allegedly accepting ₹32 lakh in bribes through his brother, Kunal Anand.

The bribe money was reportedly facilitated by contractor Sushil Jhajharia of Jhajharia Nirman Ltd. and his employee Manoj Pathak in return for alleged favours in awarding railway contracts. Both #Jhajharia and #Pathak were also arrested during the operation.

The High Court’s dismissal order made it clear that the absence of the petitioner or his counsel at the hearing left no ground to continue the interim relief sought.

The case file shows that the petition was not pressed by any party and hence could not be sustained. After the order was pronounced, CBI counsel Himanshu Pandey requested that his appearance be recorded in the proceedings, which was duly noted by the court.

The matter, registered as CRMP No. 3010 of 2025, adds another chapter to the wider investigation into alleged irregularities in railway contract allotments.

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