Achi news desk-
Supreme Court
– Photo: ANI
The Supreme Court made important observations in the Chhattisgarh liquor scam case. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjawal Bhoyan said it will quash the money laundering complaint against former IAS officer Anil Tutja and his son Yash in the alleged Rs 2,000 crore liquor scam in Chhattisgarh. The Supreme Court said that a perusal of ECIR and FIR in ML shows that no prima facie offense was committed and no ill-gotten gains were involved, hence when there is no criminal money involved then the case of money laundering does not arise.
In this regard, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, representing the Enforcement Directorate, asked the bench to file a fresh complaint. He said the investigating agency has enough material and if the commission wants to withdraw the complaint, the ED should be allowed to file a fresh complaint. so that we can move forward on the matter. Additional Solicitor General Raju also said that the court had earlier given orders not to take any action against the accused in this case, these orders should also be quashed.
Earlier, the ED alleged that a syndicate comprising senior officials of the state government, private individuals and political officials was operating in Chhattisgarh. According to the investigating agency, a large-scale fraud was committed in the liquor trade in Chhattisgarh. More than Rs 2,000 crore black money was earned in 2019-2022.
It is worth noting that the money laundering case stems from the income tax department’s charge sheet filed in a Delhi court in 2022. Chhattisgarh government is accused of bribery while procuring liquor from CSMCL (state body for purchase and sale of liquor). Bribes were collected from distillers in the country on the basis of a case of spirits and spirits in the country were sold off the books. According to the ED, bribes were taken from distillers to form a cartel and allow them a certain market share.
