Overview

• Supreme Court bench of Justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta granted interim bail to eight accused in the case, with six released from Raipur central jail on May 31
• Released detainees include suspended IAS officers Sameer Vishnoi, Ranu Sahu and former CMO deputy secretary Saumya Chaurasia alongside three others
• Bail conditions bar the released from entering Chhattisgarh except for court or investigative appearances and mandate submission of new addresses to local police within one week
• Investigators allege a cartel of bureaucrats, businessmen and politicians imposed an illegal Rs 25 per tonne levy on coal transport, extorting Rs 540 crore in cash between July 2020 and June 2022
• Enforcement Directorate has probed the money laundering angle since 2022 while the state Anti-Corruption Bureau continues to investigate corruption links