Shillong, May 17: When the Chhattisgarh government informed the Supreme Court that several state excise department officials had been complaining of being threatened and that the Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel was being implicated in a case of liquor irregularities, the court ordered the Enforcement Directorate (ED) not to foster a climate of fear.
The comments were made by a bench of Justices SK Kaul and A Amanullah as they were deliberating over a request made by the Chhattisgarh Government to be included as a party in the pending petitions.
The Chhattisgarh Government has submitted an application for impleadment through VMZ Chambers to allow the state to be impleaded as a party responder.
According to the Chhattisgarh government, some state excise department employees have claimed that the Enforcement Directorate has threatened to arrest them and their loved ones and is “trying to implicate the CM.”
The Chhattisgarh government’s senior attorney, Kapil Sibal, told the high court that the “Enforcement Directorate is running amok and threatening excise officers.”
He went on to describe it as a shocking situation.
However, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, who was defending the Enforcement Directorate, refuted the claims and stated, “The probe agency is conducting a probe into the spirits irregularities.”
The court ordered the Enforcement Directorate to avoid instilling fear in the excise employee and made the observation that such behaviour makes a legitimate reason appear dubious.