Raipur: The CG Govt on Thursday denied allegations hurled bythe ED that Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel had met a judge of the High Court few days before some of the accused in the Nagrik Apurti Nigam (NAN) scam were granted bail.
Responding to the allegations Baghel expressed dissapointment on his Twitter handel Thursday writing -the solicitor general was making false implications and tarnishing his reputation. “This is a conspiracy to malign my political image and to put the judiciart under pressure, which will be retaliated appropraitely.”
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the ED, had referred to the WhatsApp chat of an alleged close aide to the chief minister that a judge had met the CM two days before bail was granted to some of the accused in the NAN scam case. We took instructions. The chief minister never met any high court judge, senior lawyer Kapil Sibal told the court on Thursday.
The apex court bench comprising Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and Justices Ajay Rastogi and S Ravindra Bhat, meanwhile, refused to further hear the ED’s plea on account of paucity of time and unavailability of the special bench to finish the hearing and adjourned it to the week commencing November 14.
Ordering re-sealing of the documents filed by the ED and the state government, the bench said the apex court registry is directed to list the matter before an appropriate bench in the week of November 14, after taking appropriate instructions from the CJI. Chief Justice Lalit said since he would not be hearing the case anymore, he will not make any remarks. The EDs plea will now be heard afresh by another bench constituted.