Solicitor General Trying To 'Malign My Image' For 'Political Motives': Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel

Chhattisgarh NAN Scam: The scam first surfaced in 2015, during the previous BJP government, when the Opposition accused the government of allowing substandard rice into the public distribution system.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Friday accused Solicitor General Tushar Mehta of making "false" and "mischievous" allegations against him in the Supreme Court "for political motives" in order to smear his image, news agency PTI reported. 

The development comes after Solicitor General Mehta referred to a WhatsApp chat of an alleged Baghel close aide in which a judge met with the chief minister two days before some of the accused in the case were granted bail.

Tushar Mehta recently appeared in the Supreme Court during a hearing on an Enforcement Directorate (ED) petition seeking the transfer of a PMLA case related to the 'Nagrik Apurti Nigam' (NAN) scam outside of Chhattisgarh.

Baghel called it a "conspiracy" to malign his political reputation and promised that it would be "retaliated" appropriately.

Reacting to the claims of the top law officer, the Chhattisgarh CM tweeted, "It is extremely unfortunate that a person holding highest constitutional posts like solicitor general is making false and mischievous allegations for political motives. I would like to clarify that I have never met any judge and requested to do any favours for any accused."

"This is a conspiracy to malign my political image and put the judiciary under pressure, which will be retaliated appropriately," Baghel said in another tweet in Hindi.

The Chhattisgarh government informed the Supreme Court on Thursday that Baghel had never met with any high court judge.

"The solicitor general has said in the court that the chief minister has met the judge and has tried to influence the judgment. Asked who is saying this, he said that it is based on a WhatsApp conversation between two people. This is laughable," Baghel quoted as saying by PTI in Delhi when asked about the issue.

"It is not right on the part of a person holding the post of solicitor general to make such light remarks about a chief minister before the Supreme Court. I have never met the judge and neither should such remarks be made," he said.

The ED had previously claimed that a judge had met with the chief minister two days before bail was granted to some of the accused in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case.

The ED has also requested that anticipatory bail granted to some high-profile defendants in the money laundering case be revoked.

The NAN (an agency in charge of food grain distribution and procurement) scam first surfaced in 2015, with those involved accused of supplying low-quality rice, grammes, salt, and so on. The ED petitioned the Supreme Court for a transfer of the trial from Chhattisgarh, claiming that a senior government official was attempting to weaken the predicate offence against the accused.

(With Inputs From PTI)