The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea filed by former IAS officer Anil Tuteja for a blanket order against registration of any fresh case against him, and allowed him to approach the Chhattisgarh High Court seeking anticipatory bail in cases where arrest is suspected.
Tuteja, who is facing investigation in multiple cases, including $Rs 2,000-crore liquor scam He alleged that his right to personal liberty has been violated with the Chhattisgarh government and Enforcement Directorate (ED) detaining him in a fresh case every time he gets bail in a pending case.
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalia Bagchi said: “It is not that these cases are politically motivated. You are a bureaucrat who has enjoyed power for many years. Here the case is about public funds going into private hands. If you are involved, you are involved. You go and apply for bail.”
The court closed the petition by allowing Tuteja “freedom to seek bail in non-bailable cases” before the Chhattisgarh High Court. Moreover, the Supreme Court was asked to decide his application within 2-4 weeks of its filing.
Senior advocate Shoaib Alam, appearing for Tuteja, said he was remanded for 20 months after the Supreme Court canceled his bail in the liquor scam case. “They are not taking me to remand in other cases during this period when I am already in custody. Let them question me in all cases instead of waiting for the time when I will be released on bail. There is a clear pattern in all these cases.”
The court told Alam that his argument was “emotional” but not legally sound. “When viewed through a legal lens, your argument cannot be accepted because we cannot force your arrest when the agency is not prepared to do so.”
Alam said he has been named ‘chairman’ in several cases investigated by the state government which include irregularities in mining contracts, coal block allocation and Nagrik Aborti Nigam (NAN). “You can seek anticipatory bail in cases where you are aware of it. When the arrest is expedited, we can hold that the arrest is illegal and grant you bail. But how can we act before that,” the bench observed.
The CEO was represented in the case by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju who pointed out that there could be no presumption of arrest and the Chhattisgarh High Court rightly rejected his plea to restrain all investigating agencies from filing any fresh case against him.
Tuteja had approached the Supreme Court against the Supreme Court’s June 2025 order rejecting his petition.
