SC to hear Chhattisgarh govt’s plea against Chaitanya Baghel’s bail next week

New Delhi | Desk: The Supreme Court on Monday said it would hear a week later the Chhattisgarh government's appeal challenging the bail granted to Chaitanya Baghel, son of former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, in the alleged liquor scam case.

Appearing before a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice N.V. Anjaria, senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, representing the state government, argued that a crucial witness in the case has gone missing since Chaitanya Baghel was granted bail.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also separately challenged his bail in the money laundering case.

In another hearing related to the same case, the court directed Soumya Chaurasia, the former deputy secretary to the Chief Minister, to approach the Chhattisgarh High Court for bail.

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Soumya Chaurasia, argued that she was being repeatedly arrested in new cases. The bench directed her to file a petition in the High Court within a week and expressed hope that the High Court would decide on the matter on a priority basis within two weeks.

It is noteworthy that the Chhattisgarh High Court had granted bail to Chaitanya Baghel on January 2 in cases registered by the ED and the Economic Offences Wing (EOW).

The High Court, in its order, had stated that since the main accused in the case had already been granted bail by the Supreme Court, Chaitanya was also granted relief on the principle of parity.

However, the investigating agencies allege that Chaitanya Baghel was at the helm of this syndicate and managed crores of rupees in proceeds of crime. According to the ED, this alleged scam, which took place between 2019 and 2022, caused a huge loss to the state exchequer.