New Delhi, Jan 20 The Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred to January 28 the hearing on over 40 petitions in the alleged Chhattisgarh liquor scam cases including those filed by the accused seeking bail.
The top court would also hear a plea of the Enforcement Directorate challenging the grant of bail to Chaitanya Baghel, son of former chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel, in the case next Wednesday.
On Tuesday, a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul Pancholi issued notices to the state government and the probe agency on a separate plea of former bureaucrat Saumya Chaurasia.
Chaurasia was a Chhattisgarh-cadre civil servant. She was a deputy secretary and an officer on special duty (OSD) in the office of former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel.
Chaurasia, who was granted bail by the apex court in the coal levy scam case, was re-arrested in the liquor cases by the probe agencies.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohagi, appearing for Chaurasia, said, “This is forever evergreening of the FIRs and complete overreach of the Supreme Court. Every time the Supreme Court grants bail, she is arrested. Every time…”.
“Though the allegations against her and the material remain the same since 2019,” senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who is also representing Chaurasia and other accused, added.
“Issue notice,” the bench said.
The bench, however, did not issue notice on a separate plea of the Enforcement Directorate challenging the grant of bail to Chaitanya Baghel in the case.
The bench said that it will also hear the bail plea of former excise minister Kawasi Lakhma in the case on January 28.
More than 40 pleas of the accused and of probe agencies were listed in the court on Tuesday.
On January 2, the Chhattisgarh High Court granted bail to Chaitanya Baghel in two cases linked to the alleged liquor scam in the state.
The single bench of Justice Arvind Kumar Verma allowed Chaitanya's bail pleas in a case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and another by the Chhattisgarh Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB)/Economic Offences Wing (EOW).
The ED arrested Chaitanya Baghel on July 18 last year in connection with its money laundering probe in the alleged scam, while the ACB/EOW placed him under arrest, while he was in jail, on September 24 in its case linked to the corruption probe.
The liquor "scam" in the state, according to the ED, was orchestrated between 2019 and 2022 when Chhattisgarh was governed by the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government.
The alleged scam resulted in a "massive loss" to the state exchequer and filled the pockets of the beneficiaries of a liquor syndicate, it alleged.
According to the ED, Chaitanya Baghel was at the helm of the syndicate behind the alleged liquor scam and personally handled nearly Rs 1,000 crore generated from the scandal.
The ACB/EOW has claimed that Chaitanya Baghel, along with others, managed the proceeds of crime at a higher level and received around Rs 200-250 crore as his share.
The proceeds of crime linked to the scam could exceed Rs 3,500 crore, the state agency had claimed.
The ED, in December last year, filed a final prosecution complaint in the alleged liquor scam case in Chhattisgarh, naming 59 people, taking the total number of accused in the money laundering case to 81.
The final prosecution complaint has now been filed against 59 more persons, against whom investigation has been completed.
The 59 include Soumya Chaurasia, former IAS officer Niranjan Das, liquor licence holders, distributors and excise department officials.
