The Chhattisgarh High Court has refused anticipatory bail to Former Advocate General involved in Nagrik Apurti Nigam (NAN) Scam.
The bench of Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal has observed that while discharging the duty as a public servant, being the Advocate General of the State, he tried to give advantage to the accused so that they may be benefited by anticipatory bail which does affect the faith of the people upon the pious institution.
The enforcement directorate had shared the information about the commission of the offence registered under the ECIR, which is a large-scale scam of Nagarik Apurti Nigam (NAN scam) to the ACB/EOW as provided under Section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
The Income Tax Department collected certain digital evidence under Section 132(1) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, against the accused Anil Tuteja and Alok Shukla in the Crime registered against them with the ACB/EOW. On the basis of that, the ECIR is registered by the Enforcement Directorate.
While investigating the case, it is found that the accused, Anil Tuteja and Alok Shukla, not only tried to obstruct the investigation of the ECIR but also tried to influence the trial of the offence of Crime, which is pending before the Special Court at Raipur, with the connivance of bureaucrats of the Chhattisgarh Government and the officers holding constitutional posts.
After receiving the information from the Enforcement Directorate, the ACB/EOW confidentially verified the information on their sources and found that the accused, Alok Shukla, IAS, was posted as Principal Secretary, Government of Chhattisgarh from 2018 to 2020, and the accused Anil Tuteja, IAS, was also posted as Joint Secretary, Government of Chhattisgarh between 2019 and 2020 as a public servant.
The applicant, Satish Chandra Verma, was also posted as Advocate General, Government of Chhattisgarh, at the High Court of Chhattisgarh during the relevant period of 2019-2020. Alok Shukla and Anil Tuteja were important officers of the State Government who were interfering in the policy decision and other operations of the Chhattisgarh Government.
On observing the WhatsApp chats and the documents attached to the information and confidential verification, it is prima facie found that from the year 2019 to 2020, by misusing their respective position, gave undue advantage to the present Applicant Satish Chandra Verma so that he could motivate to change the documents and procedural information to the officers of ACB/EOW and got their reply prepared in their favour in the case to be presented before the High Court, so that the accused persons may get the anticipatory bail in the case.
It also came that they created pressure upon the witnesses of Crime of ACB/EOW to change their statement and obtained the documents of Crime of ACB/EOW through WhatsApp chats.
After the registration of the FIR, the ACB/EOW started the investigation into the matter in which the applicant Satish Chandra Verma apprehending his arrest has filed the instant application for grant of anticipatory bail.
The applicant contended that the manner in which the offence has been registered against the applicant by the State agency amounts to an attack on the system at their own whims of the authorities. The applicant is a good, reputed lawyer with an extreme standing position in the legal fraternity. The offence is registered against him only on the basis of apprehension and thinking that it might have happened. He would further submit that a raid was conducted by the Income Tax Department in the house of officers. During the raid, the mobile phone was seized, and after opening the mobile phone, certain chats were recovered.
The applicant is an advocate for the last 30 years and a designated senior counsel by the High Court. He is an Ex. Advocate General of the State of Chhattisgarh. There is no chance of his running away from the investigation or interrogation. Ultimately, it affects the reputation of the institution also. Therefore, the applicant sought anticipatory bail.
The court while dismissing the application held that the steps taken by the applicant were part of a conspiracy to manipulate the system and the investigation in this regard would be impacted if he is granted anticipatory bail. Necessary interrogation is warranted to reveal all the aspects and attributes related to the said offence committed against the institution.
This court was satisfied that a strong prima facie case is made out against the applicant and the said conduct is part of the conspiracy which can only be revealed if the investigating agency is given the due opportunity to apprehend the applicant and investigate the case without there being any chance to hamper the witnesses and the evidence.
Case Details
Case Title: Satish Chandra Verma Versus State Of Chhattisgarh
Case No.: MCRCA No. 1369 of 2024
Date: 13/02/2025
Counsel For Applicant: Kishore Bhaduri, Senior Advocate along with Mr. Sabyasachi Bhaduri, Advocate
Counsel For Respondent: Dr. Saurabh Kumar Pande, Deputy A.G. along with Mr. Mayur Khandelwal, Panel Lawyer
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