Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel has been issued a notice by the Supreme Court in a matter filed by his director general of police (DGP) Mukesh Gupta (presently suspended). Others such as senior IAS officer Anil Tuteja and the state, through the chief secretary, have also been issued notices. The notice pertains to the ‘hounding’ of Gupta with “malafide intention” and filing of three FIRs against him.
In an almost unprecedented move, the court has not only stayed the proceedings in all the three cases but issued notices to all respondents to file their replies. Gupta is under investigation by the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) for illegal phone tapping amongst other things. An FIR was also lodged against him at the Supela police station by his brother-in-law, Miki Mehta, who alleged that he had goaded his sister to suicide.
In his 245-page petition, Gupta made some damning allegations against Baghel. The gist is that he is being hounded because he had registered a case against Baghel when he was the ADG of the EOW. He cited other instances where he was “specifically targeted” by an administration bent upon punishing him for having performed his duties in the past.
What may have impressed Justice Arun Mishra and Justice M.R. Shah is that Gupta made a plea for the cases to be investigated by the CBI, thereby signalling his confidence in the fairness of the investigation. The court has also issued notices to the CBI.
Mukesh Gupta. Photo: Screengrab
Mahesh Jethmalani, who appeared for Gupta, successfully demonstrated to the court the malafide intent in Baghel’s approach. He pointed out that Anil Tuteja, who was being investigated for his role in the infamous NAN scam and was under suspension, is the complainant against his client. It is a case of an accused accusing his investigator. Tuteja’s suspension was also revoked by Baghel.
It is also surprising that no lawyer appeared on behalf of the state or the chief minister in the case filed by Mukesh Gupta, despite Chhattisgarh having three additional advocate generals in Delhi.
In a week of reverses for the Baghel government, former chief minister Ajit Jogi also received a reprieve from the Bilaspur high court on Wednesday. The HC stayed the decision of the high powered D.D. Singh committee which found him non-tribal. This has several immediate implications, including Jogi not losing his membership of the state assembly.
The stay also means that both Jogi and his son Amit may get some relief in the FIRs filed against them related to their tribal status. Salman Khursheed had specially come from Delhi to argue the state’s case against Jogi, but could not impress upon the court not to stay the high powered committee’s decision.