Chhattisgarh Liquor Scam : After Sharp Exchange, Justice Oka's Bench Allows State To Seek Transfer Of Case To Another Bench

The Supreme Court bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan on Friday recused itself from hearing pleas by former IAS officer Anil Tuteja's and two others seeking quashing of corruption case against him related to the Chhattisgarh Liquor Scam.

The bench took this decision, after a sharp exchange of words with Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani,  for the State of Chhattisgarh, who opposed adjournment and sought the vacation of the interim order granting Tuteja and others protection from arrest.

“Considering the submissions made by Mr. Jethmalani, we permit Mr. Jethmalani to move the court of the Chief Justice for transfer of these matters to appropriate bench”, the Court said.

Tuteja along with two other accused – Vidhu Gupta and Nitesh Purohit filed the present petitions seeking quashing of the cases registered against them under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The Court has earlier granted interim protection to the petitioners, noting their cooperation with the investigation. On Friday, the Court kept the cases specifically for hearing State of Chhattisgarh's interlocutory applications seeking vacation of interim relief to Gupta and Purohit.

During the hearing, Jethmalani sought the vacation of the interim order, arguing that custodial interrogation of the petitioners was necessary for the investigation.

However, Justice Oka questioned the urgency of Jethmalani's request, pointing out that the quashing pleas are still pending. He questioned the need to vacate the interim order when the petitioners had been attending hearings and cooperating with the investigation.

Jethmalani, in response, insisted that it was not within the Court's jurisdiction to decide on the custodial interrogation. “We need their custodial interrogation…This is not the province of the Court”, he said.

Justice Oka asked, “Are we powerless to grant the relief?” Jethmalani responded, “Yes, I say that in all seriousness.”

Justice Oka suggested to keep the IA on a non-miscellaneous day before the summer vacation if Jethmalani wanted to raise the contention that the Court doesn't have the power to grant the interim relief.

However, Jethmalani insisted that the matter had been pending since September 2024 and had been fixed specifically for hearing after he moved for the vacation of the interim order. He submitted that the matter has gotten adjourned on various occasions due to petitioners' lawyers seeking adjournment. He further said that whenever he has sought adjournment, he has done so in advance.

Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, for the petitioners, refuted Jethmalani's submissions and told the bench that it was the state which had taken adjournment three times in the case. Senior Advocate Meenakshi Arora, for some petitioners, said that it was an unfair submission on the part of the State, which itself had taken adjournments on dates inconvenient to it.

Justice Oka suggested that Jethmalani approach the Chief Justice for the reassignment of the case to another bench, if his grievance is that the matters are not reaching on the dates fixed.

“Mr. Jethmalani, we are telling you, if that is the grievance, we will permit you to move the Chief Justice for transfer of this petition. We have been hearing so many matters. If you are making a grievance that matters are not reaching…”

Although Jethmalani clarified that his contention was not against the court, but about the conduct of the petitioners who sought adjournment, the bench did not change its mind and recused from the matters.

Justice Oka criticized this approach, stating that if such grievances about adjournments were raised in every case, it would be impossible for the Court to function.

“Mr. Jethmalani, if we start adopting this approach, which advocate has taken an adjournment, how many times, it will be impossible for us to function”, Justice Oka said.

Case no. – SLP(Crl) No. 11790/2024

Case Title – Anil Tuteja v. Union of India and connected cases

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