The Supreme Court of India.
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday deferred the hearing on an appeal of Chhattisgarh government challenging the grant of bail to Chaitanya Baghel, son of former chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel, in the alleged liquor scam cases.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vijay Bishnoi adjourned the hearing after taking note of submissions of senior advocates Mahesh Jethmalani, appearing for the state government, and Mukul Rohatgi, representing Baghel.
Jethmalani alleged Baghel was one of the prime accused and masterminds in the sensational case.
Rohatgi said the high court delivered a well-considered judgement in the case in which the probe has been ongoing for the last two years.
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).
In its order on the bail application in the ED's case, the high court noted that the applicant's alleged role was "significantly lesser" than that of several senior accused who have already been granted bail.
It said the alleged kingpins and principal beneficiaries Anwar Dhebar, Anil Tuteja, Arvind Singh, Arunpati Tripathi and Trilok Singh Dhillon have already been enlarged on bail by the Supreme Court, and denying bail to the applicant would violate the well-established principle of parity.
The HC observed that the investigation was largely documentary in nature and that Chaitanya had remained in custody for a considerable period. It said the evidentiary value of material collected by the ED, including statements under Section 50 of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and financial and digital records, would be tested during trial and not conclusively assessed at the bail stage.
In a separate order granting bail in the ACB/EOW case, the HC termed it "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.
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 said.
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 Chaitanya Baghel, along 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.