Retired Chhattisgarh cadre IAS officer Anil Tuteja (IAS:2003:CG) has been granted anticipatory bail by the High Court in the inter-state liquor policy scam. The court decided to grant the anticipatory bail after finding gaps in the investigation and weak evidence.
Tuteja was arrested by the ED in April 2024 in connection with a money laundering case linked to a liquor scam.
This case started after Chhattisgarh’s Economic Offences Investigation and Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) registered an FIR against him alleging offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and provisions of the Indian Penal Code.
It was alleged that Tuteja was part of a syndicate that conspired to manipulate the excise policy of Jharkhand to favour certain liquor businesses, causing significant loss to the state exchequer.
It was also alleged that contracts were awarded to syndicate-linked agencies and illegal gains were generated through the manipulation of procurement rates and the sale of unaccounted liquor.
On the other hand, Tuteja claimed that he had been falsely implicated and was being subjected to repeated prosecutions to prevent him from securing liberty. He described the pattern as an “evergreen arrest” strategy.
It was submitted in his defence that no direct or any electronic evidence linking Tuteja to the alleged conspiracy was found, and even a diary recovered during the investigation did not mention his name.
Besides, it was also argued that despite the FIR being registered in September 2024, the investigating agency had neither interrogated Tuteja nor sought his custody in connection with the case for over one and a half years.
The HC took into account the fact that the investigating agency had done nothing to interrogate or arrest Tuteja despite the passage of considerable time.
The defence also stressed that multiple searches conducted over the years did not yield any unaccounted assets. Additionally, in parallel proceedings in Jharkhand concerning the same alleged scam, Tuteja has neither been named as an accused nor summoned for questioning.
The High Court also noted that the alleged offence primarily pertained to Jharkhand, where a separate FIR has already been registered and where the applicant has not been made an accused.
After considering these factors, the court decided to grant anticipatory bail to Tuteja and also directed that in the event of arrest, he shall be released on bail upon furnishing a personal bond of ₹50,000 with sureties, subject to conditions including cooperation with the investigation, non-interference with witnesses, and regular appearance before the trial court.
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