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Chhattisgarh HC Slams Door on Bail in Monumental Coal Levy Racket
In a stern rebuke to pleas for leniency in high-stakes corruption cases, the has denied regular bail to Devendra Dadsena , a former aide to a Congress party treasurer, in the sprawling ₹540 crore coal levy extortion scam. Justice Narendra Kumar Vyas , delivering the verdict on , underscored that economic offences like this demand a "different approach" to bail, given their threat to the nation's financial fabric.
From Policy Flip to Extortion Empire: The Coal Scam Unravels
The saga traces back to , when a controversial government order—allegedly masterminded by a syndicate of politicians, bureaucrats, and private players—shifted coal transport permits from an online to a manual system. This paved the way for district mineral officers in coal-rich areas like Korba, Raigarh, and Surajpur to impose an illegal ₹25 per tonne levy on transporters, raking in an estimated ₹540 crore between and .
The FIR, lodged on , by the following an tip-off on money laundering (ECIR/RPZO/09/2022), named 35 accused, including IAS officers Saumya Chaurasiya and Ranu Sahu . Dadsena, an accountant turned personal assistant to Ramgopal Agrawal (PCC Treasurer), stands accused under and . Arrested on , he allegedly collected extorted cash at Congress Bhawan, Raipur , funneled it for political use, with ₹52 crore traced via seized handwritten diaries from raids.
Dadsena's Defense: Scapegoat or Syndicate Linchpin?
Dadsena's counsel painted him as an innocent pawn, falsely implicated via inadmissible co-accused statements ( ). No direct recovery, no prior criminal record, and over six months in jail amid a sluggish probe with dozens of witnesses. Pleas for parity rang loud—co-accused like Chaurasiya, Sahu, Suryakant Tiwari, and Sameer Bisnoi secured bail after two years. With trial delays and family hardship looming, bail was urged under , promising compliance.
Prosecution's Ironclad Case: Diaries, Witnesses, and a Fleeing Shadow
The state, via Dy. AG Sourabh Kumar Pande , countered with damning evidence: diary entries explicitly noting "Bhawan" deposits totaling ₹52.62 crore, witness confirmations from Deepen Chavda and Pappu Bansal of Dadsena handling coal, liquor, and paddy scam funds. When ED/IT raids hit in , Agrawal allegedly told him to flee and ditch his phone—guilt etched in flight. Custodial interrogation was vital for tracing fund flows in this "organized crime network," they argued, dismissing parity as other co-accused endured longer custody.
Courtroom Calculus: Why Economic Crimes Trump Bail Norms
Justice Vyas meticulously sifted the case diary, rejecting trial delay claims (blaming accused tactics) and illegal arrest pleas (for trial determination). Citing
and
, the court affirmed economic offences' uniqueness:
"committed with cool calculation... with an eye on personal profit regardless of the consequence to the community."
Diaries and statements built a
, rendering bail a risk to justice—tampering, absconding, and thwarted probes loomed large.
As echoed in reports on the verdict, the bench stressed:
"Economic offences involving deep-rooted conspiracies and huge loss of public funds must be viewed seriously as they affect the financial health of the country."
Key Observations
"Economic offence is committed with deliberate design with an eye on personal profit regardless to the consequence to the community."
"The material collected... clearly indicates that the quantum involved is extremely high and runs into crores and the role attributed to the applicant is serious in nature."
"Considering the FIR and other material placed on record which prima facie shows involvement of the applicant in the crime in question. As such, I am of the view that it is not a fit case where the applicant should be granted regular bail."
No Bail, But Trial Stays Unfettered
The bail plea under stands rejected, with observations ring-fenced from trial influence. For Dadsena, languishing since , this signals prolonged custody amid ongoing probes and supplementary chargesheets. Broader ripples? A blueprint for denying bail in mega-scams, prioritizing public trust over individual liberty where evidence screams conspiracy.
