2026:CGHC:7929 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MCRC No. 912 of 2026 Bharat Singh S/o Shri Khuman Singh Aged About 41 Years Presently VAIBHAV SINGH DVD12 Ai a g :tI 5 i eBt 9: aH :2 l 1 A0 y 9 V 2 s + 6 iSg .0 I0 n 5 N2 e 3 G. d 10 H3 by R/o House No. A-232, Uni-Homes Bhatagaon, Raipur C.G. And Permanent R/o Near Kisan Rice Mill, Neora, Distt. Raipur C.G.

... Applicant versus Union Of India Through Superintendent Of A.C.B./c.B.I., Raipur C.G.

... Non-Applicant For Applicant : Mr. Pragalbha Sharma, Advocate.

For Non-Applicant/UOI : Mr. Vaibhav A. Goverdhan, Advocate.

Hon'ble Mr. Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice

Order on Board

12.02.2026

1. This is the Second bail application filed under Section 483 of the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 for grant of regular bail to the applicant who has been arrested in connection with Crime No. RC1242025A0002 registered at Police Station – A.C.B./C.B.I. Raipur (C.G.), for the offence punishable under Sections 61(2) of BNS and Section 7 and 7A of the Prevention of Corruption Act

1988.

2. The earlier bail application of the applicant being MCRC No. 2981 of 2025 was rejected by this Court vide order dated 20.05.2025, on merits.

3. The case of the prosecution is that on 31.01.2025 an FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint made by Lalchand Athwani, proprietor of M/s The World of Beauty, situated at Station Road, Durg, alleging that the present applicant, while posted as Superintendent in Central Goods & Services Tax, Raipur, conducted a raid at his shop on 28.01.2025 and 29.01.2025 and thereafter, in criminal conspiracy with co-accused Vinay and one Shri Mishra (absconding), demanded a bribe of ₹34,00,000 to settle the GST liability of the complainant; upon his request for negotiation, the bribe amount was allegedly reduced to ₹10,00,000, but as the complainant was unwilling to pay, he submitted a written complaint on 30.01.2025 to the Central Bureau of Investigation, whereupon the CBI verified the allegations and registered an FIR under Section 61(2) of the BNS read with Sections 7 and 7A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988; on 31.01.2025 a trap was laid after completing pre-trap formalities and at about 06:00 PM the complainant received a call from co-accused Vinay Rai asking him to reach outside Currency Tower at VIP Chowk, Raipur, where the bribe money was handed over to Vinay Rai and he was apprehended by the investigating agency with the tainted money, and it is further alleged that the present applicant was thereafter called by an Inspector to the CGST office, where his mobile phone and one green file containing 72 pages relating to the search conducted on 28.01.2025 at the premises of the said firm were seized along with two bill books and two hard disks from the CGST office at Raipur, and a copy of the FIR is annexed as Annexure A/2.

4. The applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated by the investigating agency despite having no role in the commission of the alleged offence. The present second bail application is being filed on account of a significant change in circumstances after rejection of the earlier bail application and dismissal of the SLP by the Supreme Court of India on 04.08.2025, inasmuch as the investigating agency has filed a Supplementary Final Report (charge sheet) on 06.09.2025 and similarly placed or higher- ranked co-accused persons have been granted bail by the trial court; notably, the main officer and team leader of the raid, Shri Subrato Pal, along with seven other co-accused, has already been enlarged on bail, whereas the applicant was merely a member of the team acting under his directions as per the search authorization. The co-accused Subrato Pal, who was responsible for determining the tax liability, has been granted bail and therefore continued detention of the applicant amounts to violation of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India, particularly when the Supplementary Final Report dated 06.09.2025 does not disclose any e