Supreme Court grants bail to Chhattisgarh ex-IAS Anil Tuteja in DMF scam

The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to former Chhattisgarh bureaucrat Anil Tuteja in a case involving allegations of corruption in awarding tenders and misuse of the District Mineral Fund (DMF) of Korba district.

A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi passed the order.

Tuteja had challenged the Chhattisgarh High Court's April 25 order denying him bail in the matter.

Additional Advocate General Ravi Sharma today defended the High Court's decision and urged the top court not to grant Tuteja bail. He argued that the former IAS officer is involved in several scams.

"Please see his (WhatsApp) chats with the former law minister. He is discussing his release in the NAN Scam case. This was during trial. Witnesses turned hostile," Sharma said.

Senior Advocate Shoeb Alam opposed this line of argument.

"This is not with regard to this case," he said.

"These statements are from 2019. What is the relevance?" added CJI Kant.

"There are WhatsApp chats to show him as a prime conspirator in almost all scams of Chattisgarh. He turns the witnesses hostile," AAG Sharma persisted.

The Bench, however, was not persuaded to deny bail on such allegations.

"We cannot comment on this. It is a matter of trial," said CJI Kant.

The Court proceeded to grant Tuteja bail after noting that over 80 witnesses were left to be examined and the conclusion of trial was likely to take time.

"While it is true that the allegations against the petitioner are serious allegations, that will be a matter of trial. This matter is at the stage where the prosecution witnesses are to be examined. Taking into consideration the period spent in custody and the fact that the conclusion of trial is likely to take time, we deem it appropriate to grant bail to the petitioner. The petitioner shall remain outside the State and shall not contact any of the serving officers while on bail. He shall not make any attempt to influence the witnesses," the Court said.

The DMF scam involves allegations that Tuteja accepted crores of bribes in exchange for allocating mineral-related works to certain private entities during the previous Congress-led regime in Chhattisgarh. 

The Economic Offences Wing/Anti Corruption Bureau of Chhattisgarh has accused Tuteja of misusing his official position to illegally allot work valued at over 50 crores in exchange for bribes.

He was arrested on February 23 this year and eventually moved the High Court seeking bail.

The High Court rejected his bail plea citing the seriousness of such economic crimes and the likelihood of Tuteja tampering with evidence or influencing witnesses if he is released on bail.

Tuteja challenged this ruling before the Supreme Court.

Tuteja is also accused of having played a role in an alleged liquor scam, a coal scam, the NAN Scam and the Mahadeo Betting App case, the High Court had noted in its April bail rejection order.

Last month, the Supreme Court had granted Tuteja bail in a money laundering case tied to the alleged Chhattisgarh liquor scam.

At the time, the top court had noted that Tuteja had remained in jail since April 2024 in that case. Further, it pointed out that the High Court had quashed a trial court's cognisance of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) complaint against him in the matter.