Supreme Court upheld Chaitanya Baghel’s bail in the alleged liquor scam cases.
It dismissed separate appeals filed by the ED and Chhattisgarh government.
The court removed adverse High Court remarks against the EOW investigation.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to cancel the bail granted to Chaitanya Baghel, son of former Chhattisgarh chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel, in cases connected to the alleged liquor scam.
The court also expunged adverse observations made by the Chhattisgarh High Court against the investigation conducted by the state police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW).
A Bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana dismissed separate appeals filed by the Enforcement Directorate and the Chhattisgarh government challenging the bail orders.
The ED and the EOW had moved the Supreme Court separately against the High Court’s decision to release Baghel on bail in the corruption case and the related money laundering proceedings.
During the hearing, the Chhattisgarh government described Baghel as one of the principal accused and alleged masterminds in the case. His counsel opposed the challenge, arguing that the High Court had passed a reasoned order after considering the material on record. The defence also pointed out that the investigation had continued for nearly two years.
The Chhattisgarh High Court had granted Baghel bail on January 2 in both cases. Justice Arvind Kumar Verma allowed one application relating to the ED’s money laundering probe and another arising from the case registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the EOW.
While granting bail in the ED matter, the High Court observed that Baghel’s alleged involvement was “significantly lesser” than that of several senior accused who had already secured bail.
The court referred to Anwar Dhebar, Anil Tuteja, Arvind Singh, Arunpati Tripathi and Trilok Singh Dhillon, who were described as alleged kingpins or major beneficiaries in the case and had been granted bail by the Supreme Court.
It held that continuing to deny Baghel bail in such circumstances would run contrary to the established principle of parity.
The High Court also noted that the prosecution case was primarily based on documentary evidence and that Baghel had already spent a substantial period in custody.
It said the reliability and evidentiary value of the material collected by the ED, including statements recorded under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act as well as financial and digital records, would have to be examined during the trial.
According to the High Court, such evidence could not be conclusively evaluated while deciding a bail application.
In the separate ACB-EOW case, the High Court had criticised the investigating officer for failing to arrest accused Lakshmi Narayan Bansal despite a permanent or open-ended warrant issued by the special court.
It had described the alleged failure as a “grave violation of law”.
The Supreme Court has now removed those adverse remarks against the EOW investigation while allowing the bail granted to Baghel to remain in force.
The Enforcement Directorate arrested Chaitanya Baghel on July 18 last year as part of its money laundering investigation into the alleged liquor scam. The ACB and EOW subsequently arrested him on September 24 while he was already in judicial custody.
