Allahabad High Court has granted bail to former Chhattisgarh Excise Commissioner Niranjan Das in the alleged liquor scam of Rs 2,161 crore in Chhattisgarh. The FIR related to this much talked about liquor scam was registered in Noida. While granting bail to Niranjan Das, the court said that no accused can be deprived of the right to bail merely on the basis of criminal history. In fact, Niranjan Das is accused of being involved in formulating the excise policy and tender process of the state and he knowingly prepared a policy which illegally benefited ‘M/s Prism Holography Security Films Pvt. Ltd.’, a hologram manufacturing company based in Noida.
In this liquor scam, the Economic Offenses Wing of Chhattisgarh had registered an FIR against more than 70 people including the applicant in January 2024. During the investigation, ED wrote a letter to the Uttar Pradesh administration informing them that fake and illegal holograms used in the liquor scam of Chhattisgarh were being made in Noida. On the basis of this information, a case was registered in Kasna police station of Noida under serious sections of IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act.
SC had already granted bail
Although the Supreme Court had granted bail to the applicant Niranjan Das in both the main case and the PMLA case in May 2026 itself, the Additional Advocate General of the state government strongly opposed the bail citing the criminal history of the accused, but the court rejected the government’s arguments. While accepting the bail plea of Niranjan Das, the court has also directed him not to leave the country. The single bench of Justice Vikram D Chauhan has approved the bail petition.
Concrete evidence not presented by the state
The Court further said that the State has not produced any evidence to indicate that the applicant is likely to tamper with evidence, intimidate witnesses or abuse the liberty of bail. Keeping in mind that the main offense was committed in Chhattisgarh, the applicant had already been granted bail by the Supreme Court in the case and the investigation in the present Uttar Pradesh case had been completed, the High Court granted bail to Niranjan Das.
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