Chhattisgarh Liquor Scam: ED fails to prove Rs 2000 crore scam in SC

There is an echo of Delhi liquor scam in the country these days. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been put in jail on this charge. ED is calling the matter serious. At the same time, Delhi Government chief Arvind Kejriwal and his party AAP are calling it a political conspiracy. Meanwhile, in a similar case of liquor scam in Chhattisgarh, the Supreme Court has given a big blow to the ED.

In fact, the Supreme Court has quashed the money laundering case against former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Anil Tuteja and his son Yash in the alleged liquor scam of Rs2,000 crore in Chhattisgarh, saying that no property was acquired from the crime.

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan quashed the complaint against the father-son duo, noting that there was no case against them for the main offense and no case was made out under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The bench said, “Since no offense has been committed, the property cannot be acquired by reason of an offense as defined under Section 2 (U) of the PMLA. If no property has been acquired from the crime, then a case of crime under PMLA does not arise. Let us tell you that earlier on April 5, the apex court had indicated that it would not file a case against the father and son for money laundering. The case can be quashed.

ED will collect evidence afresh

Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing in the court on behalf of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), indicated that the investigating agency may file a fresh complaint against the accused in view of additional material recovered during its investigation. The bench said that it is not going to interfere in the proceedings, which are likely to begin.

In the prosecution charge sheet filed in the special PMLA court, ED had said that former IAS officer Anil Tuteja is the leader of a gang involved in illegal liquor supply in Chhattisgarh. The money laundering case stemmed from a chargesheet filed by the Income Tax Department in a Delhi court. The federal agency had alleged that bribes were taken from liquor makers in the state.