The Chhattisgarh anti-corruption bureau (ACB) has registered two cases of cheating and forgery against a couple of ministers of the previous Bhupesh Baghel government and others in connection with the alleged coal levy and liquor scams being probed by the Directorate of Enforcement.
Both the FIRs were registered on January 17 based on information shared by the ED that is probing the money laundering angle in these alleged scams. Besides ex-ministers Amarjeet Bhagat and Kawasi Lakhma, the FIRs -- registered under the provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and Indian Penal Code, 1860 -- include the names of several Congress leaders from Chhattisgarh, bureaucrats, other government officials and businessmen.
The central agency’s counsel, Saurabh Kumar Pande, told The Hindu that the agency had recommended registration of FIRs last year but the State police acted only after a change of regime in Raipur. On the other hand, former CM Mr. Baghel described the development as a ploy to influence the outcome of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. \
The alleged coal scam refers to the ED’s claim that an illegal levy of ₹.25 per tonne was being extorted for every tonne of coal transported in the State by a cartel involving senior bureaucrats, businessmen, politicians and middlemen. The agency pegs the face value of the scam at Rs 540 crore and the FIR mentions that the utilization of Rs 244 crore out of this is still being probed.
Besides former minister Bhagat, the others named in the FIR include former Chhattisgarh CM aide Soumya Chaurasia, suspended IAS officer duo of Sameer Bishnoi and Ranu Sahu, alleged kingpin Suryakant Tiwari, Congress leader Ram Gopal Aggarwal, MLA Devendra Singh Yadav, former MLA of Kunkuri U D Minj and others.
In the liquor scam FIR, the ED has named 70 people, including the then excise minister Kawasi Lakhma, former Special Secretary at the Department of Excise and the managing director (MD) of Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited (CSMCL) Arun Pati Tripathi, former IAS Vivek Dhandh, Congress leader Anwar Dhebar, IAS officer Anil Tuteja and others.
The FIR notes that it is estimated that Proceeds of Crime of around Rs 2,161 crore have been generated by the suspects in the alleged liquor scam.
“The ED had made the disclosures under section 66 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to the State police in mid 2023 but there was no action. We then sought a CBI probe and even filed two criminal writ petitions in the Bilaspur High Court,” said Mr. Pande.
Meanwhile, responding to the ex-ministers in his erstwhile cabinet being named, former CM Mr. Baghel questioned the timing of the FIR.
“For the last three years, the ED and IT [Income Tax department] were investigating this matter and after investigation they have now asked ACB to register FIR. Earlier during the investigation conducted by ED and IT the names of many of our leaders were not mentioned but now suddenly the names of our leaders are in the FIR. It is clear that a conspiracy is being hatched to defame the leaders of the State keeping in mind the Lok Sabha elections,” said the former CM.
He also explicitly referred to former MLA UD Minj, who is named in the FIR related to the alleged coal scam. Pointing out that an FIR has been filed against Mr. Minj, who [unsuccessfully] ran in the 2023 elections against Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, he suggested that the CM displayed small-mindedness.
