Manish Upadhyay Vs State of Chhattisgarh (Chhattisgarh High Court)
Chhattisgarh High Court rejected bail application filed u/s. 483 of the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 as prosecution prima facie establishes link between accused in the coal scam. Accordingly, bail not granted to applicant.
Facts- This is first bail application filed u/s. 483 of the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 for grant of regular bail to the applicant who has been arrested on 15.08.2024 for the offence punishable under Sections 420, 120-B, 384 of IPC and Sections 7, 7-A, 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
On 11.01.2024, one Mr. Sandeep Ahuja, Deputy Director, Directorate of Enforcement, Raipur through Mr. Farhan Qureshi, Deputy Superintendent of Police lodged a complaint before the Director General of Police Anti Corruption Bureau & Economic Offences Wing, Chhattisgarh pertaining to predicate offence discovered during money laundering in investigation File No. ECIR/RPZO/09/2022 was done u/s. 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
Thereafter, an offence bearing FIR No. 03/2024 has been registered on 17.01.2024 at Police Station against 35 accused persons.
As part of the well-planned conspiracy, the applicant with the active support of the politicians & some of the senior State Government functionaries, managed to influence the then Director of Geology & Mining, and got issued a Government Order dated 15.07.2020 which became the fountain head of this extortion system by converting the online system of issuance of Transport Permits into a manual system. They started a network of extortion to collect Rs. 25 per on every ton of coal transported in the State of Chhattisgarh. By this system of extortion, a huge amount of cash started accumulating with the syndicate and with this money, the applicant has purchased benami assets and a huge amount of money was transferred to the applicant, spent on political funding and transferred as per the instructions of higher powers.
