A day after the Enforcement Directorate’s arrest, a court in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur district on Sunday sent retired IAS officer Anil Tuteja to one-day judicial remand in connection with the money laundering case related to an alleged Rs 2000 crore state liquor scam.

Tuteja, who was detained by the probe agency on Saturday, was sent to judicial custody by the court of Seventh Civil Judge (Class II) Ranju Vaishnav, according to the probe agency’s lawyer, Saurabh Pandey, as PTI reported.

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In the fresh money laundering case, after the Supreme Court’s recent ruling quashing its earlier FIR, which was based on a complaint from the Income Tax department, the apex court observed that no scheduled offence had occurred, thus the money laundering case does not hold ground.

In January, an FIR was filed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), citing Indian Penal Code sections 420, 467, 471, along with sections 7 and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, in relation to the alleged liquor scam. Due to these sections of the IPC and PC Act being categorized as scheduled offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the Raipur zonal office of the ED initiated a new case, according to Pandey.

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“The ED summoned Tuteja and his son Yash Tuteja when they were recording their statement in the ACB office in Raipur on Saturday. After they came to the central agency’s office, the two were interrogated. Based on evidence, Anil Tuteja was arrested on Saturday night,” he said.

As the special (PMLA) court remained closed on Sunday, Tuteja was brought before the relevant jurisdictional magistrate. The ED requested a 14-day custodial remand, but the court granted only one day of judicial custody. Tuteja will appear in the special court on Monday.

While Tuteja was kept under PMLA laws, his son Yash was allowed to go home. Tuteja retired from service last year. Before that, he worked as a joint secretary in the industry and commerce department of Chhattisgarh.

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Prior to the Supreme Court’s verdict, the agency shared its probe details with the state EOW/ACB, urging them to register a criminal case. Following the filing of the FIR, the ED launched a new money laundering case based on that complaint. The EOW/ACB registered the FIR on January 17, approximately a month after the BJP ousted the Congress government led by Bhupesh Baghel in the assembly polls.

The FIR named 70 individuals and companies, including former excise minister Kawasi Lakhma and former chief secretary Vivek Dhand. The ED estimates the alleged “proceeds of crime” in the case at Rs 2,161 crore.

As part of the FIR registered in January, Anwar Dhebar, Arvind Singh, and Arunpati Tripathi, an Indian Telecom Service (ITS) officer and special secretary of the excise department, were arrested by the EOW/ACB.

(With PTI Inputs)