Court accepts EOW closure report on land case against Chhattisgarh CM

A special court in Durg district in Chhattisgarh has accepted a closure report filed by police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in a 2017 case lodged against Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and his family members for alleged irregularities in land allotment in an over two-decade-old housing scheme.

Special Judge (Prevention of Corruption Act) Ajit Kumar Rajbhanu on Thursday granted permission to the EOW to close the case, citing the probe did not find evidence against the persons named in the FIR, Public Prosecutor (Durg) Sudarshan Mahalwar told PTI.

In 2017, the EOW had registered a case against Baghel who was then the state Congress chief and Patan MLA, and his wife and mother (now deceased) and others for alleged irregularities in allocation of land under the Mansarovar Housing Scheme in Bhilai area of Durg district in 1995, an EOW official said.

The case was lodged on the basis of a complaint by BJP Durg MP Vijay Baghel and another person.

In 1995, Baghel, as MLA, was an ex-officio member of the Special Area Development Authority (SADA) which allotted land under the Mansarovar scheme in Bhilai area in the erstwhile Madhya Pradesh.

The complaint alleged that Bhupesh Baghel misused his political position to get plots, meant for low income group persons, in the name of his wife and mother by violating guidelines.

The EOW had registered an offence against Baghel, his kin and SADA officials under the Prevention of Corruption Act and IPC sections 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating), the official said.

The EOW submitted a closure report in court last month, stating that no evidence was found against Baghel, Mahalwar said.