Raipur,  2 Jan

The Chhattisgarh High Court on Friday granted bail to Chaitanya Baghel, son of former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, in two cases linked to the alleged liquor scam in the state.

The court allowed bail in one case registered by the Enforcement Directorate and another by the Chhattisgarh Anti Corruption Bureau/Economic Offence Wing, ED counsel Saurabh Kumar Pande said.

Chaitanya Baghel was arrested by the ED in July last year in connection with a money-laundering probe into the alleged scam. The ACB/EOW subsequently arrested him in September while he was in judicial custody in its corruption case.

According to the ED, the alleged liquor scam was carried out between 2019 and 2022, during the tenure of the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government in Chhattisgarh. The agency has claimed the scam caused a “massive loss” to the state exchequer and benefited a liquor syndicate.

The ED has alleged that Chaitanya Baghel was a key figure in the syndicate and handled nearly ₹1,000 crore generated from the scam. The ACB/EOW has separately claimed he received ₹200–250 crore as his share, while estimating the total proceeds of crime to be over ₹3,500 crore