The Chhattisgarh High Court held a hearing on Wednesday regarding the infamous alleged liquor scam involving several high-profile individuals, including former IAS officer Niranjan Das. The petitions challenge the FIR filed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), seeking its dismissal on legal grounds.
Senior advocates from the Supreme Court, Siddharth Agrawal and Mahesh Jethmalani, presented arguments, which remained inconclusive. The court has granted interim relief to the accused, including Das, maintaining that there will be no arrests until the final hearing, which is scheduled for July 2nd.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had initially investigated the scam, revealing illegal recoveries from liquor businessmen in collaboration with a hologram manufacturing company. The scam reportedly involved officers and politicians during the time the BJP government came to power in the state.
Following the Supreme Court’s dismissal of the ED’s ECIR, the ED still proceeded to register a case with the ACB, which has been contested by Das and Vidhu Gupta, who is associated with the hologram company.
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Further hearings on the petitions, including those by former IAS Anil Tuteja and his son Yash Tuteja among others, are also pending. These petitions challenge FIRs filed by both the ACB and the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), calling for their annulment. The debate between the parties will continue after the summer recess in June, with further arguments expected from both sides.
