NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Chhattisgarh government on a plea by former Advocate General Satish Chandra Verma seeking anticipatory bail for his alleged role in the Nagrik Apurti Nigam scam case.
SC Issues Notice on Satish Verma’s Anticipatory Bail Plea in NAN Scam
The state government, on its part, assured the court it would not arrest till the apex court's order.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta recorded a statement from the state government's counsel that no coercive action would be against him until further order from the court.
Chhattisgarh Govt Assures No Arrest Until Supreme Court’s Order
The court scheduled the matter for further examination on February 28.
On behalf of Verma, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi contended that the former Advocate General was being hounded due to change in regime.
He submitted that the petitioner is entitled to anticipatory bail as he is being roped in only on the basis of WhatsApp chats. Since he was the Advocate General, he has been made an accused on the basis of certain WhatsApp chats which he had with certain co-accused in the NAN Case.
Deputy Advocate General, Ravi Sharma, alongwith advocate Apoorv Shukla, claimed that a bare reading of the WhatsApp chats showed the seriousness of the offence and misuse of the Advocate General's office by the petitioner.
The allegations included charges of influencing the judicial system. However, since the state has not arrested him thus far, that was the ample evidence of the fact that the state is acting fairly and is certainly not persecuting the petitioner, they said.
The counsel also submitted that the perusal of WhatsApp chats will convince the court of the gravity of the offence, which can be placed before the court alongwith the response.
They submitted that given the fact that despite dismissal of anticipatory bail application by two courts the petitioner has not be arrested is assurance enough. The counsel further said that the petitioner will not be arrested until the WhatsApp chats are placed before the court in next three days.
After hearing the submissions, the court issued notice.
The NAN scam, related to supplying low quality rice, grams, salt etc, was unearthed in 2015.
