2026:CGHC:11502 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR ORDER RESERVED ON 18.02.2026 ORDER DELIVERED ON 10.03.2026 ORDER UPLOADED ON 10.03.2026 MCRC No. 10422 of 2025

1 - Niranjan Das S/o Late Shri Laxminarayan Das Aged About 63 Years R/o House No. 61, Rama Greens, Near Las Vista Society, Amlidih, V I P Road, Labhandih, Raipur, District : Raipur, Chhattisgarh ... Applicant(s)

versus

1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through S.H.O. , P.S.- E O W / A C B, District : Raipur, Chhattisgarh ... Respondent(s)

(HON’BLE SHRI JUSTICE ARVIND KUMAR VERMA)

C A V Order

The instant application constitutes the applicant’s maiden quest for regular bail under Section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, arising from FIR No. 04/2024 dated 17.01.2024, lodged at the behest of the Economic Offences Wing/Anti-Corruption Bureau, Raipur, District Raipur (C.G.). The accusations therein—invoking Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code, conjointly with Sections 7 and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988—stem from purported irregularities in liquor procurement and distribution within the State of Chhattisgarh.

BRIEF FACTS OF THE CASE

2. The prosecution's narrative, succinctly stated, emanates from an investigation into an alleged large-scale "Liquor Scam" implicating irregularities in the procurement, sale and supply of liquor within the State. It is posited that certain officials and private entities forged a criminal conspiracy, occasioning undue pecuniary gain to favoured concerns and corresponding detriment to the State exchequer. The Applicant, a retired civil servant who superannuated on 31.01.2023 as Secretary, Excise Department, thereafter re-engaged on contract as Secretary, Electronics and Information Technology, with transient additional charge as Excise Commissioner stands implicated solely on the anvil of supervisory oversight and purported acquiescence in policy formulations.

3. Concededly, no allegation of direct involvement in transactional procurements or fiscal disbursals is levelled against the Applicant; inference of complicity is drawn inferentially from his positional stature during the material period. The FIR crystallized on 17.01.2024. The investigative process has yielded seven charge-sheets arraying 51 accused and over 1,100 witnesses, with further probe ostensibly afoot.

The Applicant, demonstrating unwavering rectitude, invoked this Court's jurisdiction qua quashing of the FIR, securing interim succour from coercive measures, renewed periodically. The quashing petition's dismissal prompted escalation to the Apex Court, where interim protection endured, conditioned on investigative cooperation, a mandate the Applicant scrupulously discharged, presenting before the agency inter alia on 25.09.2024, 26.09.2024, 07.03.2025, and 26.08.2025. Amidst these proceedings, investigative extensions were sought and granted. By order dated 16.09.2025, the Apex Court petition stood dismissed, vacating interim protection while conferring liberty to seek regular bail. In immediate sequel, the Applicant suffered arrest on 18.09.2025, enduring 11 days in police custody before remand to judicial custody—a situation persisting unbroken. The charge-sheet pertaining to the Applicant was tendered on 24.11.2025, culminating investigation qua him, albeit broader inquiries linger. A prior bail application before the learned Special Judge (PC Act), Raipur, met rejection on 06.12.2025, precipitating the instant revision.

4. Notably, myriad co-accused including Excise officials and purported conspiracy beneficiaries have secured regular or anticipatory bail from this Court or the Apex Court, factoring the colossal dimensions of the case, witness profusion and inexorable trial prolongation. A parallel departmental inquiry by the Commercial Tax (Excise) Department into the impugned transactions, as averred, absolved the Applicant of any malfeasance therein. Unblemished by prior conviction, the Applicant confronts ancillary pr