The Supreme Court on Monday admonished the Chhattisgarh government over prolonged detentions in the Rs 2,000 crore liquor scam, questioning the justification for keeping an accused imprisoned indefinitely. The case involves allegations of money laundering and corruption connected to the state’s liquor distribution.
During the hearing of two bail applications, Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan expressed concerns over the slow pace of the investigation, which has already seen three chargesheets filed without resolution. “Investigation will go on its own speed. It will go on till eternity. You are virtually penalizing the person by keeping him in custody. You have made the process a punishment. This is not some case of terrorist or triple murder,” the bench stated.
The legal representation for the state, led by Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, argued against granting bail, citing the necessity to confront the accused with others involved in the case. Conversely, representing the accused, Senior Advocate Siddharth Agarwal highlighted the prolonged custody of his clients despite the absence of framed charges.
The court noted that Arvind Singh and Amit Singh, the petitioners, would be allowed to confront former Excise Minister Kawasi Lakhma, with proceedings set to continue on May 9.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has implicated a high-level syndicate involving state government officials, private entities, and political figures in orchestrating the scam, allegedly generating over Rs 2,000 crore from illicit activities between 2019 and 2022. The accusations stem from a 2022 chargesheet by the Income Tax Department, suggesting that bribes were systematically collected from distillers based on the volume of liquor procured through the Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited (CSMCL) and sold off the books.
