The Supreme Court of India has granted interim bail to several accused in the Chhattisgarh Coal Levy scam, including Suryakant Tiwari, Ranu Sahu, Saumya Chaurasia, Sameer Vishnoi, and others.
In earlier hearings, interim bail was already granted to ex-civil servants like Saumya Chaurasia and Ranu Sahu in March, and to accused Laxmikant Tiwari, Manish Upadhyay, and Parekh Kurre in early May. However, fresh bail applications were filed for other pending cases, including one linked to the DMF scam.
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A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta granted interim bail in all cases listed before it. The Court, however, imposed conditions. Justice Kant stated:
"These are persons who have potentiality to influence the investigation."
As per the Court's order:
"The petitioners are directed to be released on interim bail till further orders, subject to furnishing bail bonds to the satisfaction of the trial court."
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For Suryakant Tiwari, Ranu Sahu, Saumya Chaurasia, and Sameer Vishnoi, the Court directed that:
"They shall not stay in the state of Chhattisgarh till further orders, except for appearances before the investigating agency or trial court as required. They must provide their stay addresses outside Chhattisgarh within one week of release."
The Court added:
"If any petitioner is found attempting to contact witnesses, influence them, or tamper with evidence, it will be seen as a misuse of interim bail."
Additionally, the accused were instructed to:
"Deposit their passports with the special courts immediately upon release and fully cooperate with the investigation."
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The Court clarified:
"This interim arrangement is without prejudice to the respondents' contentions and no equitable consideration shall accrue in favor of the petitioners."
Justice Kant also remarked during the hearing:
"We are also prima facie satisfied... the amount of property this one lady has made... that speaks volumes."
When a suggestion was made to impose an additional condition to restrict Suryakant Tiwari from contacting his relatives, Justice Kant observed:
"You have to create some sort of confidence in the witnesses... if you create this kind of environment, what would be the fate of investigation!? You leave them to the mercy of these mighty [...], what will happen?"
During the hearing, it was informed that out of the accused in the Enforcement Directorate and State authorities' cases regarding different "scams," around 13 accused were already out on interim bail from EOW cases in Chhattisgarh, and 5 others were not from EOW.
Appearance: Senior Advocates Siddharth Dave, Mukta Gupta and Siddharth Aggarwal, Adv Tushar Giri, Advocate Harshwardhan Parganiha(for petitioners); ASG Aishwarya Bhati and DAG Ravi Sharma
Case Title: RANU SAHU Versus STATE OF CHHATTISGARH, SLP(Crl) No. 15941/2024 (and connected cases)
