CBI court reverses ex-Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel's discharge in 2017 'sex CD' case
The case was first registered in 2017, with the Chhattisgarh Police registering two separate FIRs based on the complaints filed by BJP leader Prakash Bajaj. The then BJP government had transferred the case to the CBI.
A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Raipur on Saturday reversed an order by a magisterial court that had discharged former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in connection with a case over alleged circulation of an obscene video linked to ex-minister Rajesh Munat in 2017. The court also rejected the appeal filed by other accused Kailash Murarka, Vinod Verma and Vijay Bhatia against the trail court order.
The CBI court's reversal means that Baghel, a senior Congress leader, will have to face trial in the case unless he gets relief from a higher court.
What this case is all about?
The case was first registered in 2017, with the Chhattisgarh Police registering two separate first information reports (FIRs) based on the complaints filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Prakash Bajaj. The then BJP government had transferred the case to the CBI, which later filed a chargesheet and a supplementary chargesheet in the case.
As per the central probe agency's chargesheet, Baghel was named among the accused.
"The first case was registered at the Pandri police station in Raipur on October 26, 2017 against unknown persons on the allegation that the complainant (Bajaj) received a call on his phone wherein an unidentified caller said that he possessed a pornographic video of his "aaka"(master) and threatened to distribute it in case his demand of ransom was not met," news agency PTI quoted a CBI spokesperson as saying.
Accused deny allegations
The other case was registered at the Civil Lines police station in Raipur on October 27, 2017, against Chhattisgarh Congress president Bhupesh Baghel and senior journalist Vinod Verma on the allegation that they had given Munat's fake pornographic video to various social media platforms to malign his character and obtain political mileage, the spokesperson said.
Both Baghel and Verma have refuted the charges leveled against them. Notably, Verma was also arrested by the police in October 2017 for suspected blackmailing. Later, Verma said the then Chhattisgarh government wasn't happy with him suspected that he had a "sex CD of (then) Chhattisgarh PWD minister Rajesh Munat" and suggested he was being framed.
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