Chhattisgarh ex-AG Verma pre-arrest bail in SC, govt assures no 'coercive' steps yet

New Delhi [India], February 22 (ANI): In the anticipatory bail case of Chhattisgarh's former Advocate General SC Verma, the Supreme Court was assured by the state's legal counsel that, as per their instructions, no coercive actions will be taken against the petitioner until the next hearing concerning his alleged involvement in the 'Nagarik Apurti Nigam' (NAN) scam.
After hearing the submissions, the bench comprising of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta, issued notice. The matter will now be taken up by the Court on February 2.
Verma is accused of exploiting his constitutional position to influence case outcomes in favour of high-ranking state officials.
Mukul Rohatgi, Sr. advocate, argued on behalf of Verma 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.
This plea of anticipatory bail was opposed by the State represented by Ravi Sharma, Dy. A.G. alongwith Apoorv Shukla, Standing Counsel for the State.
Advocate Sharma stated that a bare reading of the WhatsApp chats shows the seriousness of the offence and points out at the unpardanoble conduct and misuse of the Advocate General's office by the Petitioner.
The allegations include charges of influencing the judicial system.
However, since the State has not arrested him thus far, and that's ample evidence of the fact that the state is acting fairly and is certainly not persecuting the Petitioner.
The counsels appearing for the State further submitted that the perusal of WhatsApp chats will convince the court of the gravity of the offence and the same can be placed before the court alongwith the counter and assured the Court that given the fact that despite dismissal of anticipatory bail application by two courts the Petitioner has not be arrested is assurance enough and he further made assurance that the Petotioner will not be arrested until the WhatsApp chats are placed before the court, which the state intends to file in next three days.
On February 13, the Chhattisgarh High Court rejected the anticipatory bail plea of former Advocate General Satish Chandra Verma, regarding his alleged involvement in the 'Nagarik Apurti Nigam' (NAN) scam. (ANI)