Ex-bureaucrat Tuteja gets bail in DMF case

NEW DELHI: Accused of involvement in multiple scams, former Chhattisgarh bureaucrat Anil Tuteja will come out of jail more than two years after his arrest in April 2024 as Supreme Court granted him bail in the Rs 600 crore DMF scam case on Monday. However, SC banished him from the state.

Appearing for Tuteja, advocate Shoeb Alam told a bench of CJI Surya Kant and justice Joymalya Bagchi that despite his client being given bail in all other cases in which he was arrested, he had been in custody since his first arrest on April 21, 2024.

"The moment the state govt finds that Tuteja is about to get bail in one case, they get him arrested in another case to keep him in custody. This evergreening of arrest must not be permitted by the judiciary," Alam said.

For Chhattisgarh, additional advocate general Ravi Sharma told the bench that the offence is grave in nature, as the accused had attempted to siphon funds meant for the welfare of tribals. Sharma drew the court's attention to WhatsApp chats of Tuteja from 2019 purportedly indicating attempts by him to influence the course of justice in league with then law officers of state in cases against him, which include those relating to the rice-milling scam, DMF scam, coal scam, liquor scam, Nagrik Apurti Nigam (PDS) scam and Mahadev betting app scam.

Though the CJI-led bench granted Tuteja bail, it said, "Since the petitioner has held an affluent position in the state... it is directed that the petitioner shall stay outside Chhattisgarh."