Chandigarh:Court rejects MC accountant’s anticipatory bail plea in Smart City funds case

A Chandigarh court rejected the third anticipatory bail plea of Anubhav Mishra, an outsourced accountant with the Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC), in a case involving alleged misappropriation of Chandigarh Smart City funds.

The CBI opposed the bail, arguing that Mishra's custodial interrogation is necessary to uncover a larger conspiracy and claimed he initiated the proposal to open the bank account, obtained bank quotations, and processed note sheets.

Mishra argued he was a low-level employee with no decision-making authority and that senior officials ordered the transfer of over ₹116 crore from Chandigarh Smart City Limited accounts to the MC's Smart City account.

The case was registered by the CBI under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for cheating, forgery, and criminal conspiracy, along with Section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The CBI also alleged that 11 fake fixed deposit receipts totaling approximately ₹116.84 crore were uncovered during the investigation.