New Delhi, April 14 -- The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to former Jharkhand minister Anosh Ekka, making it conditional on his undertaking to assist in restoring tribal land allegedly acquired in violation of law to its original status. A bench of justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta suspended Ekka's sentence in the corruption case and directed that he be released on bail upon filing an undertaking before the trial court within seven days, affirming that he would cooperate in the process of restoring the land. "The appellant shall.assist in the process of restoration of the tribal land to its original status as and when required," ordered the court, while leaving it to the trial court to impose additional conditions. Senior counsel Siddharth Dave appeared for Ekka. Ekka was sentenced in August 2025 by a special CBI court in Ranchi to seven years of rigorous imprisonment in a case involving illegal acquisition of tribal land in violation of the Chota Nagpur Tenancy Act, 1908. According to the prosecution, the former minister amassed assets worth nearly Rs.57 crore -- vastly disproportionate to his known sources of income, and acquired large tracts of tribal land by misusing his official position. The transactions were allegedly carried out in the name of his wife, Menon Ekka, using false affidavits and residential details, with the active connivance of public officials. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) further alleged that Ekka floated construction firms that were awarded lucrative government contracts by departments under his control, thereby conferring undue pecuniary advantage upon himself. The top court noted that the present conviction arose from a split chargesheet arising out of the same vigilance case, with several allegations overlapping with an earlier prosecution in which Ekka had already spent more than four years in custody and was granted bail in 2023. The bench observed that the issue of overlapping prosecutions and the plea of double jeopardy would have to be examined by the high court in the pending appeal, but acknowledged that Ekka had already undergone substantial incarceration....