2026:CGHC:11111 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR ORDER RESERVED ON 04.02.2026 ORDER DELIVERED ON 03.03.2026 ORDER UPLOADED ON 03.03.2026 MCRC No. 10445 of 2025

1 - Nitesh Purohit S/o Bhanu Shankar Purohit Aged About 52 Years R/o B-1, Mukta Sadan, In Front Of Goyal Nursing Home Samta Colony, District- Raipur Chhattisgarh, ... Applicant(s)

versus

1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through ACB/ EOw, District- Raipur Chhattisgarh, ... Respondent(s)

(Hon’ble Shri Justice Arvind Kumar Verma)

C A V Order

The instant application is preferred by the applicant seeking grant of regular bail in connection with FIR No. 04/2024 registered at Police Station EOW/ACB, Raipur, pertaining to offences punishable under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120B IPC as well as Sections 7 and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. Bail application filed before the learned Special Judge (Prevention of Corruption Act), Raipur came to be rejected vide order dated 10.12.2025, which order is impugned herein.

BRIEF FACTS OF THE CASE

2. The prosecution case, in nutshell, revolves around an alleged liquor scam in Chhattisgarh unearthed during Income Tax search and seizure operations conducted in February-March 2020 at multiple premises linked to liquor trade entities and associated individuals. The documents and digital records allegedly recovered therein purportedly revealed irregular financial transactions and systemic manipulations in State liquor procurement, distribution, licensing, and sales processes, pointing to an organized syndicate influencing official mechanisms. Statements of sundry persons recorded by Income Tax authorities lent further credence to these inferences, precipitating deeper scrutiny. On 18.11.2022, the Directorate of Enforcement registered ECIR under PMLA, treating the proceeds as arising from scheduled offences. Pursuant thereto, communication under Section 66 PMLA was addressed to EOW/ACB, Raipur, culminating in FIR No. 04/2024 dated 07.01.2024 under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471, 120B IPC and Sections

7 & 12 PC Act, 1988, arraying public servants and private players in the liquor business.

3. The conspiracy envisaged illicit gains through: (i) commissions extracted from suppliers for liquor supply/sale clearances; (ii) off-the- record liquor sales via government outlets abetted by multi-level manipulations; and (iii) annual payoffs securing seamless distillery operations. The generated funds were allegedly laundered via a web of intermediaries involving transit, storage, and disbursement through sundry premises. Voluminous documents, financial trails, witness statements, and digital evidence were garnered. Initial Final Report was filed before Special Court (PC Act), Raipur, followed by successive supplementary charge-sheets implicating more accused; the applicant featured in the sixth such report dated 24.11.2025.

4. The applicant stands indicted for abetting principal accused in syndicate operations, with his/family premises allegedly leveraged for fund handling/transport linked to excise irregularities, alongside business entities under his umbrella facilitating syndicate logistics. Summoned and arrested on 19.09.2025, he was charge-sheeted inter alia. Prosecution posits concert with co-accused in a broader conspiracy yielding illicit excise profits, backed by extensive witness examinations and documentary matrix, to be substantiated at trial.

SUBMISSION OF THE COUNSEL FOR THE APPLICANT

5. Shri Paranjape, learned Senior counsel for the applicant submits that the instant bail application merits gracious consideration in light of triple test enshrined in bail jurisprudence, duly satisfied herein. No further Investigative Utility Probe qua the applicant stands concluded with filing of 6^th Supplementary Final Report dated 24.11.2025. No custodial remand remains warranted, rendering continued incarceration otiose and punitive. There is no discrete role or overt act stands attributed to the applicant in charge-sheet or materials garnered.