Supreme Court orders ED, EOW to complete Chhattisgarh Liquor Scam probe in 3 months
Final report due by end of December; Investigation intensified with 30 Excise officials being questioned
Raipur:
The Supreme Court has directed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) to complete their investigation into the alleged Chhattisgarh Liquor Scam within three months. The apex court has sought the final report by the last week of December.
The order, uploaded in the last week of September, has prompted the ED and EOW to intensify their investigation. The agencies are currently questioning 30 Excise Department officials, including seven retired personnel.
ED’s counsel, Sourabh Pandey, stated that the Supreme Court noted the investigation had been ongoing for nearly two years and needed to be brought to a conclusion. “We will submit our final investigation report within the deadline set by the Supreme Court,” Pandey confirmed.
The Supreme Court bench of Justice M.M. Sundresh and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma heard 13 related petitions concerning the liquor scam and dismissed them all. These petitions included different FIRs registered in Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh, the ED’s ECIR, and various bail applications, including that of IAS officer Anil Tuteja.
While dismissing the petitions, the court instructed the ED and state agencies to complete the investigation within three months and file a supplementary chargesheet. Following this, the petitioners can apply for regular or anticipatory bail.
The EOW stated it is analysing the commission taken by the syndicate on foreign liquor. Over 10 people have been arrested in connection with the scam and money laundering allegations, including former Excise Minister Kawasi Lakhma and former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s son, Chaitanya Baghel.
Others arrested include Arunpati Tripathi, Arvind Singh, Anwar Dhebar, Trilok Singh Dhillon, Anurag Dwivedi, Amit Singh, Deepak Duari, Dilip Tuteja, and Sunil Dutt.
The Chhattisgarh Liquor Scam, estimated at over ₹3,000 crore, is being investigated by the ED, which also filed an FIR with the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).
The ED’s investigation alleges that the scam was executed during the tenure of the erstwhile Bhupesh Baghel government through a syndicate led by IAS officer Anil Tuteja, Excise Department MD A.P. Tripathi, and businessman Anwar Dhebar.
According to the EOW chargesheet, the syndicate was formed in February 2019 when Anwar Dhebar called a meeting of three distillery owners at a Raipur hotel. Dhebar allegedly assured the distillery operators of a rate increase in exchange for a commission of 15% of the money from the commission on distillers and the sale of ‘B-Part’ liquor.
The chargesheet states that Anwar Dhebar, who allegedly received over ₹90 crore, invested the money in various companies using the names of his relatives and Chartered Accountants. Vikas Agrawal and Subbu, close associates of Dhebar, were tasked with collecting the money from liquor shops.
