In a major development, the Chhattisgarh Government formally handed over the investigation of Rs 570 crore illegal coal levy scam to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The decision was finalised through a notification issued by the Home Department, according sanction under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, thereby extending CBI’s jurisdiction across the state.

 

Until the consent was officially activated, the documents had remained under a tightly controlled loop of senior officers. Widely seen as a robust reaffirmation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s declared resolve to root out corruption, the move is being viewed as an assertion of the Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai-led BJP Government’s zero-tolerance approach to financial crimes-regardless of political lineage or official clout.

 

The Hitavada has exclusive accessed copies of the Home Department’s communication (Ref No. F No. 4-10/Home-C/) and the follow-up directive from the CID Legal Section (PHQ/CID/Legal Section-1/248/25) already been circulated to Range Inspectors General and district Superintendents of Police (SPs), mandating immediate coordination with central authorities. A top-ranking bureaucrat posted at Mantralaya, while speaking on the strict condition of anonymity, independently corroborated the finalisation of the state’s consent to the CBI probe.

 

The officer, however, explicitly requested that his name not be published under any circumstance, citing the sensitive nature of the file movement within the upper administrative channels. Officials familiar with the matter recalled that the genesis of the CBI referral traced back to a petition filed before the High Court by the Enforcement Directorate Raipur Zonal Office’s (ED-RPZO) on August 14, 2023, during the erstwhile Congress Government’s tenure.

 

The petition had urged judicial direction for a CBI probe into the coal levy scam, citing the state’s inaction despite detailed disclosures under Section 66 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). According to the petition, ED had raised grave reservations about the institutional integrity of the State Economic Offences Investigation and Anti-Corruption Bureau (SEOIACB), noting that a majority of officers belonged to the State Police Service and functioned under the direct control of the then political executive. With consent now granted, the CBI has been vested with authority to investigate offences under Sections 120-B and 384 of the Indian Penal Code, alongside applicable provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

 

The figure of Suryakant Tiwari – identified by ED as the alleged mastermind –h as remained central to the probe. The Raipur-based businessman, who is still held in judicial custody – had allegedly structured a multi-tier extortion framework comprising bureaucratic conduits, mining department liaisons, and transport operators. Recently in May 2025, the Supreme Court had granted interim bail to three top-level accused in the scam –IAS officers’ Sameer Vishnoi and Ranu Sahu, and then Deputy Secretary Saumya Chaurasia.

 

The apex court had directed the trio not to stay in Chhattisgarh and to register their residential details with local police in other states. Moreover, ED in its second supplementary prosecution complaint in August 2023, had named Congress MLAs Devendra Yadav and Chandradev Rai, along with IAS officer Ranu Sahu and key aides from the then CM’s Secretariat.

 

The complaint had detailed how extorted funds were layered through benami entities and shell companies, allegedly channelled towards political expenditures. Notably, in July 2025, the SEOIACB had filed a detailed chargesheet before the Special Court, naming 29 accused, including officials from the Mining and Excise departments. The chargesheet had reconstructed the modus operandi of illegal collection and distribution of coal levies and outlined the bureaucratic nexus that allowed the extortion to thrive under official cover. In this regard, one of the most sensational twists had surfaced in September 2024, when Suryakant Tiwari accused a senior SEOIACB official of attempting to coerce a confession inside Raipur Central Jail.

 

In this regard, the Special Court had then directed jail authorities to preserve CCTV footage from the superintendent’s chamber and the main gate, while seeking a compliance report on adherence to Rule 816 of the Jail Manual. Tiwari’s counsel had strongly objected to unauthorised access by investigating officers without prior judicial approval. Former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel had subsequently denounced the alleged coercion and had threatened to approach the Chief Justice of India (CJI) if such practices persisted.

 

The government’s formal sanction to CBI has also re-ignited the chase for Congress treasurer Ramgopal Agrawal, who, according to ED-Raipur Zonal Office sources, was declared wanted with a Look Out Circular issued in late 2023. Agrawal had remained missing following a series of ED raids in 2022–23 and had not been spotted in public or at any party function since. With the Cabinet Secretariat and Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) in New Delhi now officially notified, the CBI’s legal division is expected to begin evaluation of records submitted by the ED and SEOIACB.