Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel weakened PDS scam case: Enforcement Directorate to Supreme Court

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has told Supreme Court that Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, members of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and a top law officer had allegedly weakened the case against Anil Tuteja and Alok Shukla, senior IAS officers accused of embezzlement of money in the PDS scam case. .Tuteja was the Managing Director of Public Distribution Corporation (PDC) while Shukla was the Chairman of PDC. In 2019, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had lodged an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) against Tuteja and Shukla under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The ECIR was based on the FIR and charge sheet filed by the Chhattisgarh police’s economic offences wing (EOW) and the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) for corrupt practices in procurement and transportation of rice and other food grains. In August 2020, the Chhattisgarh High Court had granted anticipatory bail to the IAS officers.The ED in its present application before the top court has sought directions to stay the August order of the High Court. .The agency has informed the Supreme Court that mobile phone transcripts of the the two IAS officers seized by the income tax department "shockingly revealed that both the main accused (Tuteja and Shukla) in connivance with successive chiefs of prosecuting agency Economic Offences Wing, Anti-Corruption Bureau of Chhattisgarh, a very senior law officer in the Chhattisgarh HC, members of the SIT and with intervention of the Chief Minister have weakened the offence of corruption against them by procuring favourable reports from the SIT and by actively threatening witnesses of predicate offences as well as offences of money laundering.”.The plea said that the transcript of such messages clearly revealed the nature of misuse of power in Chhattisgarh, tampering of evidence and influencing witnesses and a potential conspiracy involving some constitutional functionaries too."It is most important to note that on being admitted to anticipatory bail, most of the witnesses against the respondents have resiled from their statements which further makes it clear that respondents are persons of position and power in the State and are not afraid to abuse the same in order to save themselves from the clutches of law," the application stated..If the the two are out on bail then it would frustrate the cause of justice and subvert the criminal justice system, it was submitted.