FORMER Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and Patan MLA Bhupesh Baghel has written to Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, urging for a high-level judicial inquiry supervised by the Supreme Court, into the alleged coal levy scam. In his seven-page letter, Baghel emphasised the necessity of a free and fair investigation, asserting that his name is being deliberately linked to various cases as part of a conspiracy to defame him.

 

He cited the incident involving undertrial prisoner Suryakant Tiwari at Raipur Central Jail as a key example of this orchestrated smear campaign. In a petition accompanying his letter, Baghel levelled serious allegations against IPS officer Amresh Kumar Mishra, who is IG State Economic Offences Investigation and Anti-Corruption Bureau (SEOIACB). According to the petition, Mishra’s visit to the jail on September 8 was conducted under senior law enforcement directives with the intent of coercing Tiwari into accepting involvement in offences and implicating him as Baghel’s associate.

 

The petition asserts that Mishra, along with other officials, pressured Tiwari to implicate himself and others in the ongoing legal case. Baghel further alleges that Mishra threatened severe consequences should Tiwari refuse to cooperate, including implicating Tiwari’s family members. Baghel contends that the jail meeting was unauthorised by any judicial body, raising questions about the legality of the entire process. This petition, coupled with Baghel’s letter, has prompted calls for greater scrutiny into law enforcement's conduct and the potential misuse of authority. Baghel’s letter also extends his allegations to central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED), accusing them of acting as instruments of the BJP to undermine his government during the last assembly elections. He claimed that he and his supporters were falsely implicated in various cases in a bid to tarnish his reputation. Even after the elections, Baghel alleges that the SEOIACB have continued to target him by linking his name to extortion cases. In his letter, Baghel clarified that as Chief Minister, he never obstructed any criminal investigation and expressed his willingness to cooperate with any inquiry. However, he criticised the ongoing investigations, describing them as part of a political vendetta intended to damage his career and jeopardise the future of his family and supporters. Given the gravity of the allegations and the purported political motivations behind the investigations, Baghel has called for a judicial inquiry at the highest level, overseen by the Supreme Court, to safeguard his personal safety, freedom, and that of his family and supporters.