ED case linked to coal levy 'scam': SC extends interim bail of ex-Chhattisgarh CM's deputy secretary

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday extended the interim bail of former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel's deputy secretary Saumya Chaurasia, an accused in a money laundering case linked to an alleged coal-levy scam.

The apex court had on September 25 granted her interim bail, noting that she had already undergone custody of more than one year and nine months and charges were yet to be framed.

The matter came up for hearing before a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan.

The bench sought to know about the current status of the case.

Senior advocate Siddhartha Dave, appearing for Chaurasia, said the trial has not yet commenced.

"Interim bail to continue," the bench said and posted the matter for hearing in the last week of January.

The top court was hearing Chaurasia's plea challenging an August 28 order of the Chhattisgarh High Court which had denied her bail.

In its September 25 order, the apex court had directed the state government not to reinstate her in service merely because she was granted interim bail in the case.

"The petitioner shall continue under suspension till further orders," the bench had said.

It had said the petitioner shall remain present before the trial court as and when the trial commences and shall extend full cooperation in the matter.

Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the Enforcement Directorate (ED), had opposed her bail, saying Chaurasia was a very influential civil servant and releasing her would jeopardise the trial.

Chaurasia, a Chhattisgarh-cadre civil servant, was a deputy secretary and an officer on special duty (OSD) in the office of the former chief minister.

On December 14 last year, the top court had dismissed Chaurasia's bail plea, saying she was prima facie involved in money laundering.

It had said the ED had collected sufficient evidence to come to the conclusion that Chaurasia was actively involved in the offence of money laundering as defined in section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The federal probe agency had, in 2022, alleged that a "grand conspiracy" was hatched in the natural resources-rich state to perpetrate a "coal-levy scam", in which a total amount of Rs 540 crore was "extorted" over the last two years.

The money laundering case stems from a complaint lodged by the income-tax department.

The ED investigation relates to "a massive scam in which illegal levy of Rs 25 was being extorted for every tonne of coal transported in Chhattisgarh by a cartel involving senior bureaucrats, businessmen, politicians and middlemen", the agency had claimed.