Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Friday accused Solicitor General Tushar Mehta of making "false" and "mischievous" allegations against him in the Supreme Court "for political motives" to malign his image. Baghel called it a "conspiracy" to malign his political image and said it will be "retaliated" appropriately.
Recently, during a Supreme Court hearing of an Enforcement Directorate (ED) plea seeking transfer of a PMLA case related to the 'Nagrik Apurti Nigam' (NAN) scam outside Chhattisgarh, Solicitor General Mehta, appearing for the agency, had referred to a WhatsApp chat of an alleged close aide of Baghel that a judge had met the chief minister two days before bail was granted to some of the accused in the case.
The Chhattisgarh government had on Thursday told the Supreme Court that Baghel never met any high court judge. "The solicitor general has said in the court that the Chief Minister has met the judge and has tried to influence the judgment. Asked who is saying this, he said that it is based on a WhatsApp conversation between two people. This is laughable," Baghel told reporters in Delhi when asked about the issue.
"It is not right on the part of a person holding the post of solicitor general to make such light remarks about a chief minister before the Supreme Court. I have never met the judge and neither should such remarks be made," he said.
Reacting to the claims of the top law officer, the chief minister tweeted, "It is extremely unfortunate that a person holding highest constitutional posts like solicitor general is making false and mischievous allegations for political motives. I would like to clarify that I have never met any judge and requested to do any favours for any accused."
"This is a conspiracy to malign my political image and put the judiciary under pressure, which will be retaliated appropriately," Baghel said in another tweet in Hindi. The ED, which is seeking transfer of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case outside Chhattisgarh, had earlier claimed that a judge had met the chief minister two days before bail was granted to some of the accused. Besides seeking the transfer of the case, the ED has sought cancellation of anticipatory bail granted to some high-profile accused in the money laundering case.
(With PTI inputs)
