SC rejects petitions of ED, Chhattisgarh Govt against grant of bail to Chaitanya Baghel in liquor scam cases
High Court had granted bail to Chaitanya in two cases linked to the alleged liquor scam on January 2
The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed petitions of the Enforcement Directorate and the Chhattisgarh Government challenging the bail granted to senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel’s son Chaitanya Baghel in alleged liquor scam cases.
Dismissing the petitions against bail granted to Chaitanya Baghel, a Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant flagged the growing practice of routinely challenging bail orders.
The routine challenging of bail orders has led to a “significant expansion of bail jurisprudence, prompting the court to examine whether a legally flawed bail order, by itself, is sufficient to justify cancellation of an accused’s liberty”, said the Bench– which also included Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana.
The top court, however, kept open the legal issues raised by the ED in its petition and expunged the adverse remarks made by the Chhattisgarh High Court against the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of the Chhattisgarh Police while granting bail to Baghel.
The ED and the EOW have filed separate pleas challenging the bail granted by the high court in the case and a related money laundering matter.
The state government alleged that Chaitanya Baghel was one of the prime accused and masterminds in the sensational case even as his counsel defended the high court’s order terming it a “well-considered judgment” in the case in which the probe was ongoing for the last two years.
The high court had granted bail to Chaitanya Baghel in two cases linked to the alleged liquor scam on January 2.
Preventive detention orders should be passed against those facilitating illegal sand mining: SC
Preventive detention orders should be passed against those facilitating illegal sand mining activities in and around the National Chambal Sanctuary as such people are eating into natural resources and deserve no sympathy, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday.
A Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta made these comments while hearing a suo motu case on illegal sand mining in the National Chambal Sanctuary and threat to endangered aquatic wildlife.
The Bench was told that in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena, 551 persons, who facilitate illegal sand mining activities, have been identified.
