Chhattisgarh NAN scam:SC sets aside anticipatory bail of ex-IAS officers Anil Tuteja, Alok Shukla

New Delhi, Sep 18 (PTI) The Supreme Court has set aside anticipatory bail granted to former IAS officers Anil Tuteja and Alok Shukla in the alleged Nagrik Apurti Nigam (NAN) scam in Chhattisgarh.

A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma allowed ED to take custody of IAS officers for a period of four weeks, from the date of receipt of a copy of this order, following which both men were ordered to be released "if not required in any other case, subject to the terms and conditions that may be imposed by the trial court".

"We have no hesitation in setting aside the anticipatory bail granted to respondent – Alok Shukla and are inclined to grant custody of respondent – Alok Shukla to the appellant - ED for a period of four weeks, from the date of receipt of a copy of this order, subject to the condition that he shall cooperate with the appellant - ED so as to facilitate it to complete the investigation and file the complaint. Respondent - Alok Shukla is granted one week’s time to surrender," the bench said.

The top court on September 16 said with regard to Tuteja, it had no hesitation in setting aside the anticipatory bail granted.

"We are also inclined to grant custody of respondent - Anil Tuteja to the appellant - ED for a period of four weeks, from the date of receipt of a copy of this order, subject to the condition that he shall cooperate with the appellant - ED so as to facilitate it to complete the investigation and file the complaint. Respondent - Anil Tuteja is granted one week’s time to surrender," it said.

The anti-money laundering agency claimed about some constitutional functionaries of Chhattisgarh being in touch with an HC judge to ensure judicial relief to some accused in a money laundering case arising from the alleged multi-crore rupees NAN scam.

Besides seeking transfer of the PMLA case outside Chhattisgarh, the ED has sought cancellation of the anticipatory bail granted to some high-profile accused in the money laundering case.

In 2019, the ED lodged an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act based on the FIR and charge sheet filed by the Chhattisgarh police’s economic offences wing (EOW) and the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) in the civil supply scam.

The alleged scam in the public distribution system (PDS) surfaced when the state’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) raided some offices of the ‘Nagrik Apurti Nigam’ (NAN), the nodal agency for ensuring effective operation of the PDS system, in February 2015 and seized unaccounted cash totalling Rs 3.64 crore.

Many of the rice and salt samples collected during the raid were tested for their quality and were claimed to be sub-standard and unfit for human consumption.

While Tuteja is a former chairperson of NAN, Shukla is its ex-managing director. PTI PKS PKS AMK AMK