Baghel rejects SG's charges of his aide meeting HC judge

New Delhi: Rejecting the allegations of solicitor general Tushar Mehta's that a close aide of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel had met a judge of the state's high court two days before it granted bail to some of the accused in the Nagrik Apurti Nigam (NAN) money laundering case, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said on Friday that it was not appropriate for someone of the SG's stature to say this in Supreme Court.

While talking to reporters at a press conference at the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art in New Delhi, Baghel said that he had met newly-elected Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence in the national capital Friday to congratulate him on his victory in the elections for the party's top post.

The Chhattisgarh CM further added that he would come for Kharge's oath ceremony on November 26. "He is an experienced leader. I met him in Bellary (Karnataka) recently. I met him today to congratulate (him) and we talked about many things. I will also come for his oath-taking ceremony on 26 (October)," said Baghel.

Notably, last month, during a hearing of an Enforcement Directorate (ED) plea in Supreme Court over the issue of seeking transfer of a case related to the public distribution system (PDS) scam outside Chhattisgarh, Mehta, while appearing for the ED, had referred to the alleged aide's WhatsApp chat to make the claim against Baghel.

The alleged scam had come to light when the state's Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) conducted raids on the offices of NAN, the nodal agency for ensuring effective operation of the PDS system in the state, in February 2015 and seized unaccounted cash amounting to Rs 3.64 crore.

Responding to a question on the extent of cooperation received from the centre in dealing with the continued problem of Naxalism in the state, Baghel said, "The Centre provided paramilitary forces, but the outlook of tribals changed after the Congress government came to power in the state in 2018."

Accusing the BJP of not making enough reservations for the community, the CM alleged, "The BJP anyway is not in the favour of reservation… Airport, railways, Air India, everything is being sold to private players. So how will the benefits of reservation be availed?"