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Supreme Court dismisses ex-IAS officer Anil Tuteja’s plea against new cases
The Supreme Court on Monday turned down the plea by former IAS officer Anil Tuteja to pass a blanket order against registration of any fresh case against him and permitted him to approach the Chhattisgarh high court for anticipatory bail in cases where he apprehends arrest.
The Supreme Court on Monday turned down the plea by former IAS officer Anil Tuteja to pass a blanket order against registration of any fresh case against him and permitted him to approach the Chhattisgarh high court for anticipatory bail in cases where he apprehends arrest.
Tuteja, who faces probe in multiple cases, including the ₹2000 crore liquor scam, alleged that his right to personal liberty was violated with the Chhattisgarh government and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) taking him into custody in a fresh case each time he obtained bail in a pending matter.
The bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and justice Joymalya Bagchi said, “It’s not that these cases are politically motivated. You are a bureaucrat who has enjoyed power for so many years. Here the issue concerns public money 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 “liberty to seek bail in cases where he is not on bail” before the Chhattisgarh high court. Further, the high court was requested to decide on his plea within 2-4 weeks of the same being filed.
Senior advocate Shoeb Alam appearing for Tuteja said that for 20 months he has been incarcerated after the top court set aside the bail granted to him in the liquor scam case. “They do not take me into remand in other cases during this period when I am already in custody. Let them interrogate me in all cases instead of waiting for the time when I am released on bail. There is a pattern which is visible in all these cases.”
The bench told Alam that his argument is “emotive” but not legally sound. “When seen through a legal lens, your argument cannot be accepted as we cannot enforce your arrest when the agency is not willing to do so.”
Alam said that he has been named as “kingpin” in several cases probed by the state government which includes irregularities in mining contracts, coal block allocation, and Nagrik Apurti Nigam (NAN). “You can ask for anticipatory bail in cases which you are aware of. When an arrest is precipitated, we can hold that the arrest is malafide and grant you bail. But how can we act before that,” the bench observed.
The ED was represented in the case by additional solicitor general (ASG) SV Raju who pointed out that there can be no presumption of arrest and the Chhattisgarh high court rightly turned down his plea to restrain all investigation agencies from filing any new case against him.
Tuteja had approached the top court against the high court order of June 2025 dismissing his petition.
