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New Indian Express
an hour ago
- New Indian Express
Chhattisgarh liquor scam: Chaitanya Baghel's judicial remand extended till August 18
RAIPUR: The judicial remand of Chaitanya Baghel, son of former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, has been extended by another 14 days by the special PMLA court in Raipur in connection with the ongoing probe linked to multi-crore liquor scam case. Chaitanya, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on July 18 from his Bhilai residence, was produced before the court upon the expiry of his initial 14-day remand. Chaitanya's counsel, Faisal Rizvi, stated, "The ED sought another routine 14-day judicial remand, which the court granted, extending custody till August 18. The court also directed the agency to file a charge sheet within seven days." The ED's remand document alleges Chaitanya's key role in laundering over Rs 1,000 crore linked to the excise scam, with a portion allegedly funneled into his real estate project, 'Vitthal Green', under Baghel Developers. The agency claims investigation reveals Rs 16.70 crore of scam proceeds were laundered through his real-estate ventures 'Vitthal Green' under Baghel Developers. Meanwhile, Bhupesh Baghel, now an MLA from Patan, accused the Centre of misusing agencies to target opposition leaders. Earlier on Monday, the Supreme Court, hearing a petition by Baghel and his son seeking protection from coercive action in multiple money laundering cases, directed them to approach the Chhattisgarh High Court for interim relief. The cases, involving alleged scams, are being probed by the ED, CBI, and state police.
NDTV
an hour ago
- NDTV
Bhupesh Baghel's Son's Judicial Custody Extended Till August 18 Liquor Scam Case
Raipur: A Raipur court on Monday extended the judicial custody of Chaitanya Baghel, son of senior Congress leader and former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, till August 18 in connection with a money laundering case linked to the alleged liquor scam in the state. The ED demanded Chaitanya's further judicial remand for 14 days after the expiry of his previous 14-day judicial remand, his lawyer Faisal Rizvi told reporters. The Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court has extended his judicial custody till August 18, Rizvi said. Chaitanya was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on July 18 following a search at his house which he shares with his father in Bhilai town in Durg district. Chaitanya "handled" more than Rs 1,000 crore worth of "proceeds of crime" generated from a liquor "scam" in the state and used Rs 16.7 crore for the development of his real estate project, the ED had claimed in a statement at the time of his arrest. Bhupesh Baghel has claimed Central agencies were being misused to target opposition leaders, but stressed that he trusted the judiciary and would cooperate with them. He had also claimed the ED action against his son was part of efforts to divert attention from the "illegal tree felling" for coal mines in the state as the Congress was set to raise the issue in the state Assembly last week. Congress had also staged 'chakka jam' (road blockade) in different parts of the state on Tuesday protesting ED action. The ED has said the alleged scam resulted in a "massive loss" to the state exchequer and filled the pockets of the beneficiaries of a liquor syndicate with over Rs 2,100 crore. The "scam" in the state, according to the ED, was orchestrated between 2019 and 2022 when Chhattisgarh was governed by the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government. The ED in January arrested former minister and Congress leader Kawasi Lakhma, besides Anwar Dhebar, former IAS officer Anil Tuteja, Indian Telecom Service (ITS) officer Arunpati Tripathi and some others as part of their investigations in the case. The EOW/ACB registered the FIR on January 17 last year, about a month after the BJP defeated the incumbent Congress government in the 2023 assembly polls, and named 70 individuals and companies, including former excise minister Kawasi Lakhma and former chief secretary Vivek Dhand. According to the ED, the alleged commission generated through the illegal sale of liquor was shared "as per the directions from the highest political executives of the state".
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Challenges to PMLA: CJI to speak with Justice Surya Kant on listing of review, other pleas
New Delhi, Chief Justice of India B R Gavai on Monday said he would speak to Justice Surya Kant on the issue of listing fresh petitions along with the pleas seeking review of a 2022 verdict upholding the key provisions of the PMLA including ED's powers to arrest, conduct searches and attach property. Challenges to PMLA: CJI to speak with Justice Surya Kant on listing of review, other pleas In 2022, the top court in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary case upheld the key provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act . The judgment has since faced several legal challenges, including review pleas and the fresh writ petitions, challenging the verdict and seeking the reference of the matter to a larger bench. On July 31, a bench headed by Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan and N Kotiswar Singh said it would first hear arguments on the issue of maintainability of petitions seeking a review of its 2022 verdict. It, however, did not agree to hear the main pleas with review petitions and asked senior advocate Kapil Sibal to approach the CJI for directions. Accordingly, Sibal mentioned the issue before the CJI-led bench on Monday urging that both types of matters be heard together. Sibal was referring to the matter titled as ED v. M/s Obulapuram Mining Company Private and said in this matter, a three judge bench was constituted to decide whether the Vijay Madanlal Choudhary judgment should be referred to a larger bench. He said the bench comprising former judges Justices S K Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna and Bela M Trivedi had heard the matter on several occasions. Sibal further said in November 2023 the bench was dissolved in view of the retirement of Justice Kaul and the matter was not listed after that. A Justice Surya Kant-led bench agreed to hear review petitions on August 6 to deliberate upon preliminary objections. "The review petitions in the PMLA matter are listed for hearing on August 6 and 7. There was another 3-judge bench qua the PMLA matter where hearing could not be completed since Justice Kaul retired. I mentioned it to the other bench. They said mention it before your lordships for both the matters to be heard together," Sibal informed the CJI. "If your review is decided, this will also be covered," the CJI said. "Those matters were for the purposes of finding out which of the matters should be referred to the larger bench," Sibal said. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, on the other hand, objected to the submissions, saying by way of mentioning, petitioners were trying to overcome the recent order of Justice Kant's bench which said ED's preliminary objections to the maintainability of review would be first heard. "In review, notice was issued on a limited ground. To come out of that, they started filing other petitions raising all grounds," Mehta said. "Why should both the matters be heard differently?" Sibal asked. "Suppose, if review itself is found to be maintainable then..." the CJI asked. "I can still argue the reference. Because review is a limited jurisdiction. I can still argue some of the issues should be referred to a larger bench," Sibal said. "I will speak to the learned judge," the CJI offered. On July 31, the Justice Surya Kant-led bench said the ED proposed three preliminary issues, primarily dealing with the question of the maintainability of the review petitions. The bench said the review petitioners proposed 13 questions for its consideration. "Since the proposed issues are arising in the review proceedings, we propose to firstly hear the parties on the issue of maintainability of the review petitions, followed by the hearing on the questions proposed to be raised on behalf of the review petitioners," the bench said. It said eventually, the questions that might finally arise for consideration would also be determined by the court, if it holds that the review pleas are maintainable. The bench posted the matter for hearing on August 6. On May 7, the top court asked the parties to frame the issues to be adjudicated in the matter. The Centre contended that the hearing of the review petitions cannot go beyond the two specific issues flagged by the apex court bench that issued notices on the petitions in August 2022. Mehta said the bench which considered the review petitions for admission in August 2022, issued notices only on two aspects the supply of the ECIR copy to the accused and the reversal of the burden of proof under section 24 of the PMLA. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
