A special court in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, has issued notices to two Congress MLAs and seven others who are accused in a money laundering case linked to an alleged coal levy scam. The court has instructed the accused individuals to appear before it on October 25.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had previously filed the second supplementary chargesheet in the case last month. This chargesheet named 11 individuals, including Congress legislators Devendra Singh Yadav and Chandradev Prasad Rai, as well as IAS officer Ranu Sahu, as accused.

The special court recently registered the second supplementary chargesheet and issued notices to nine of the 11 accused. Two of the accused, including Sahu, were already in custody.

Among the accused are Congress leaders RP Singh and Vinod Tiwari, in addition to the two legislators. Sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) have been invoked in this case, and they are both cognizable and non-bailable. Therefore, the nine accused who have not yet been arrested must obtain anticipatory bail.

The court has the authority to issue bailable or non-bailable warrants against them if they fail to appear during the hearing.

The ED's investigation pertains to an alleged scam involving the illegal collection of a levy of Rs 25 per tonne for every tonne of coal transported in Chhattisgarh by a cartel consisting of senior bureaucrats, businessmen, politicians, and middlemen.

According to the ED, IAS officer Ranu Sahu, who served as the collector of Korba district during the period of the scam, facilitated the collection of illegal levy amounts from coal transporters and District Mineral Fund (DMF) contracts by Suryakant Tiwari and his associates, and received substantial bribes from them.

MLA Devendra Singh Yadav allegedly received approximately Rs 3 crore in proceeds generated by the coal cartel for the Khairagarh bypolls (in April 2022) and for other political and personal expenses.

MLA Chandradev Prasad Rai reportedly received Rs 46 lakh for election funding, political expenses, and personal gifts. Congress leaders Vinod Tiwari and RP Singh allegedly received approximately Rs 1.87 crore and Rs 2.01 crore, respectively, for political and personal expenses.

The first chargesheet in the case was filed on December 9 last year and named IAS officer Sameer Vishnoi, businessman Sunil Agrawal, Suryakant Tiwari, and his uncle Laxmikant Tiwari as accused. These individuals had already been arrested by the ED.