Chhattisgarh liquor scam case: Supreme Court rejects ED, state’s objections against Chaitanya Baghel’s bail

Chaitanya Baghel, son of former chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel, in the alleged liquor scam cases. File | Photo credit: ANI

The Supreme Court on Wednesday (July 22, 2026) dismissed two separate pleas by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Chhattisgarh government challenging the bail granted to Chaitanya Baghel, son of former chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel, in alleged liquor scam cases.

While dismissing the probe agencies’ objections to Mr. Chaitanya Baghel’s bail, the Supreme Court noted the growing practice of routinely challenging bail orders, saying it had led to a “significant expansion of the bail jurisprudence, prompting the court to examine whether a legally flawed bail order alone is sufficient to justify revoking the liberty of an accused”.

However, a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohan erased the Chhattisgarh High Court’s adverse remarks against the Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) probed by the state police while granting bail to Mr. Chaitanya Baghel.

The ED and the EOW of the police have filed separate pleas challenging the bail granted by the High Court in the case and the related money laundering matter.

While the state government claimed that Mr. Chaitanya Baghel was one of the prime accused and masterminds of the sensational case, his counsel argued that the High Court had given a well-considered judgment in the case, in which investigation was going on for the last two years.

On January 2, the Supreme Court granted bail to Mr. Chaitanya Baghel in two cases related to the alleged liquor scam.

Single Judge Arvind Kumar Verma allowed Mr. Chaitanya Baghel’s pleas for bail in the case filed by the ED and another case by the Chhattisgarh Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB)/EOW.

In its order on the bail application in the ED case, the High Court said the alleged role of the complainant was “significantly lesser” than that of several senior accused who had already been granted bail.

He said the alleged kingpins and main beneficiaries – Anwar Dhebar, Anil Tuteja, Arvind Singh, Arunpati Tripathi and Trilok Singh Dhillon – have already been granted bail by the Supreme Court and denying bail to the complainants would violate the well-established principle of parity.

The High Court observed that the investigation was largely documentary in nature and that Mr. Chaitanya Baghel remained in custody for a considerable period.

It said the probative value of the material collected by the ED, including statements under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and financial and digital records, will be tested during the trial and will not be conclusively assessed at the bail stage.

In a separate bail order in the ACB/EOW case, the HC said it was a “gross violation of law” that the investigating officer did not arrest Lakshmi Narayan Bansal (accused in the case) even though the special court had issued a permanent/permanent arrest warrant.

The ED had arrested Mr. Chaitanya Baghel on July 18 last year while investigating money laundering in the alleged scam, while the ACB/EOW had arrested him while he was in jail on September 24 in his case linked to the corruption probe.

According to the ED, the liquor “scam” in the state was organized between 2019 and 2022 when Chhattisgarh was ruled by the Congress dispensation led by Bhupesh Baghel.

The alleged fraud led to a “massive loss” to the exchequer and lined the pockets of the beneficiaries of the liquor syndicate, she alleged.

According to the ED, Mr. Chaitanya Baghel was the head of the syndicate behind the alleged liquor scam and personally handled nearly ₹1,000 crore generated as a result of the scandal.

The ACB/EOW alleged that Mr Chaitanya Baghel along with others managed the proceeds of crime at a higher level and received around ₹200-250 crore as his share.

The proceeds of crime linked to the scam could exceed ₹3,500 crore, the state agency claimed.

Published – 22 Jul 2026 16:23 IST