The Supreme Court said it will hear Chhattisgarh’s plea against bail granted to Chaitanya Baghel in alleged liquor scam cases. CJI Surya Kant-led bench noted ED’s challenge and witness reluctance after Mahesh Jethmalani were concerns, fixing hearing next week.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court announced it would hear the Chhattisgarh government’s appeal challenging the bail granted to Chaitanya Baghel, son of former chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel, in connection with alleged liquor scam cases in a week.
A bench composed of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and N.V. Anjaria was informed by senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, representing Chhattisgarh, that a crucial witness in the case has been reluctant to come forward since Chaitanya Baghel was awarded bail.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has separately contested his bail in a related money laundering case. The bench stated it would address the matter in a week.
The court also considered a separate petition from Saumya Chaurasia, deputy secretary to the former chief minister, who was arrested by the ED in December last year regarding the alleged liquor scam.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Chaurasia, highlighted that the Supreme Court had previously granted her bail in other cases.
Adding that this marks her sixth arrest, Rohatgi noted,
“They have again registered a fresh FIR and arrested her in December,”
The bench directed her to seek bail from the Chhattisgarh High Court, suggesting she file her petition within a week. The high court was instructed to prioritize her plea and reach a decision within two weeks.
Additionally, the bench learned that Chaurasia was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in a separate case on January 2. The Supreme Court advised her to also pursue bail in that case from the high court.
Chaurasia, who had earlier received bail from the Supreme Court in a coal levy scam case, was re-arrested in connection with the liquor cases by investigative agencies.
On January 15, the Supreme Court had postponed the Chhattisgarh government’s appeal regarding Chaitanya Baghel’s bail grant. The state government contended that Chaitanya Baghel was one of the principal accused and masterminds in the high-profile case, while his counsel argued that the high court’s decision was well-considered, given that the investigation had been ongoing for two years.
On January 2, the high court granted bail to Chaitanya Baghel in two cases associated with the alleged liquor scam. Justice Arvind Kumar Verma’s single bench accepted the bail requests in one case filed by the ED and another by the Chhattisgarh Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB)/EOW.
In its order for the ED case, the high court remarked that Chaitanya Baghel’s alleged role was “significantly lesser” than that of senior accused individuals who had already been granted bail. It pointed out that key figures and beneficiaries, such as Anwar Dhebar, Anil Tuteja, Arvind Singh, Arunpati Tripathi, and Trilok Singh Dhillon, had all been released on bail by the Supreme Court, indicating that denying bail to Baghel would violate the well-established principle of parity.
The high court further stated that the investigation was primarily documentary and noted that Chaitanya Baghel had already spent a considerable amount of time in custody. It emphasized that the evidentiary value of the material gathered by the ED, including statements under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and financial and digital records, would be thoroughly examined during the trial rather than conclusively determined at the bail stage.
In a separate order regarding the ACB/EOW case, the high court deemed it a “grave violation of law” that the investigating officer failed to arrest Lakshmi Narayan Bansal, an accused in the case, despite a permanent/open-ended warrant issued by the special court.
Chaitanya Baghel was arrested by the ED on July 18 last year during its money laundering investigation related to the alleged scam. Meanwhile, the ACB/EOW detained him on September 24 while he was already incarcerated for the corruption investigation.
The ED claims the liquor “scam,” which occurred between 2019 and 2022 during the Congress-led government of Bhupesh Baghel in Chhattisgarh, caused a “massive loss” to the state treasury and enriched the beneficiaries of a liquor syndicate.
The ED alleges that Chaitanya Baghel led the syndicate behind the alleged liquor scam and was directly involved with nearly Rs 1,000 crore generated from the operation. The ACB/EOW further claims that Chaitanya Baghel, along with others, managed the proceeds of this crime at a higher level, receiving around Rs 200-250 crore as his share. The agency has estimated that the total proceeds of crime linked to the scam could exceed Rs 3,500 crore.