NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday, September 25 granted relief to Saumya Chaurasiya, former Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Chhattisgarh’s former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in connection with a money-laundering case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Hearing on a bail petition filed by Chaurasiya, an accused in the multi-crore alleged coal levy scam, a bench of Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta and Ujjawal Bhuyan noted that Chaurasiya was in custody for more than 19 months and the charges are yet to be framed against her.
The court while granting an interim bail to Chaurasiya instructed her to appear before the trial court as and when required. It also directed her not to influence the witnesses. Further the court asked the state government not to reinstate her in service till further orders.
Appearing for the ED, Additional Solicitor General, S V Raju opposed the relief granted to Chaurasiya, claiming that the accused is a very influential civic servant and releasing her would jeopardise the trial.
The SC’s bench however noted that the maximum sentence for the offence is seven years and even charges have not been framed for a year and nine months. It asked the ED’s counsel that how long can the ED keep an accused in custody in such an offence. The bench said that since hearing on the petition of the accused will take some time, it is granting her interim bail.
Chaurasiya, a Chhattisgarh-cadre civil servant was earlier denied bail by the high court on August 28 after which she had moved his plea before the apex court. Notably, the top court had turned down her plea in December last year, observing that she was prima facie involved in the money laundering.
According to the reports, the top court had then noted that the ED had collected sufficient evidence against the accused to come to the conclusion that she was actively involved in the offence of money laundering. The court had also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on her for presenting wrong facts before the court.
Chaurasiya was apprehended by the agencies perusing the investigation into the alleged scam in December, 2022. She has been repeatedly interrogated by the agencies for his alleged involvement in the said scam.
A fresh FIR under the provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act on charges of accumulating assets beyond capacity was also filed against her by the Economic Offence Wing (EOW). The case stems from the ED’s investigation which pertains to procurement of 29 immovable assets by Chaurasiya and her family members between 2021 and 2022.
Alleged Coal Levy Scam
Notably, Enforcement Directorate began its probe into the matter in October 2022 and claimed to unearth a multi-crore (Rs 540cr) coal levy scam in which illegal levy of Rs 25 was extorted for every ton of coal transported in the state by a cartel of senior bureaucrats, coal businessmen, politicians and middlemen.
Read more at: Suspended IAS Ranu Sahu to remain in custody in EOW’s disproportionate asset case
ED alleged that the amendments made to induce a mandatory No Objection Certificate (NOC) by the district magistrate for the coal transporters led Suryakant Tiwari, the main kingpin to smoothly operate the extortion racket under which an extortion money of Rs25 per metric ton was fixed for the transporters and coal businessmen to acquire the said certificate.
Based on ED’s investigation the EOW had also registered a case against as many as 35 accused including Saumya Chaurasia, Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officials Ranu Sahu and Sameer Vishnoi, coal businessman Suryakant Tiwari, along with a few politicians namely former minister and Congress leader, Amarjit Bhagat, Congress MLA, Devendra Yadav, former MLA Chandrika Prasad Rai and others in connection with the case in January this year.
