IN A discreet yet significant escalation in the Rs 3,200 crore liquor scam, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered its first Disproportionate Assets (DA) FIR against former Excise Special Secretary and Managing Director of Chhattisgarh State Marketing Corporation Limited (CSMCL) Arun Pati Tripathi, marking a decisive shift from proceeds of crime to direct asset scrutiny of key bureaucratic actors allegedly linked to the syndicate. The FIR, registered as RC0592026A0007 on March 24, 2026, invokes provisions under the Prevention of Corruption Act and IPC, covering a check period from February 1, 2013 to December 22, 2023, during which Tripathi served in key positions in State Government. Significantly, investigators of the Enforcement Directorate Raipur Zonal Office (ED-RPZO) are also learnt to be closely tracking developments and are reportedly awaiting the State anti-graft agency’s Disproportionate Assets FIR against the wider set of implicated officers. Sources indicate that such a move could pave the way for registration of a fresh Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), enabling the ED to initiate another round of probe aimed at unearthing deeper financial layers of the alleged scam. With the CBI formally entering the DA domain, over three dozen officers, including senior retired IAS officers and 29 excise officials earlier indicted in the scam, have now come under renewed scrutiny. These officials, who were subjected to multiple search and seizure operations by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and SEOIACB and later faced sustained interrogation and arrests, are expected to face similar DA action. Significantly, a similar action under D i s p r o p o r t i o n a t e Assets is deemed to be imminent on the part of the SEOIACB against all these officers against whom the State’s anti-graft agency had earlier registered its FIR on January 17 last year, a month after the change of regime. The SEOIACB case had named 70 individuals and entities, including former Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand, ex-IAS Anil Tuteja, Arun Pati Tripathi and former Excise Commissioner Niranjan Das, among others, alleging their role as administrative functionaries furthering the interests of the syndicate.

 

The list of excise officials under the scanner spans the entire hierarchy, indicating the alleged systemic depth of the network. It includes Additional Commissioner Ashish Shrivastav; Deputy Commissioners Animesh Netam, Vijay Sen Sharma, Arvind Kumar Patle, Neetu Notani Thakur and Nobar Singh Thakur; Assistant Commissioners Pramod Kumar Netam, Ramakrishna Mishra, Vikas Kumar Goswami, Naveen Pratap Singh Tomar, Saurabh Bakshi, Dinkar Vasnik, Sonal Netam, Prakash Pal, Alekh Ram Sidar, Ashish Kosam and Rajesh Jaiswal, along with retired Assistant Commissioners G S Nuruti, Vedram Lahare and L L Dhruv; District Excise Officers Iqbal Khan, Mohit Kumar Jaiswal and Garipal Singh Darda, alongside retired DEOs A K Singh, J R Mandavi, Devlal Vaidh and A K Anant; and Assistant District Excise Officers Janardan Kaurav and Nitin Khanduja, besides Assistant Excise Officer Manjushree Kasar. The FIR copy, exclusively accessed by ‘The Hitavada’, reveals that Tripathi and his wife Manjula Tripathi amassed assets disproportionate to their known sources of income to the tune of Rs 4.91 crore, accounting for 54.53% excess over legitimate earnings.

 

Their total assets surged from a modest Rs 38.08 lakh at the beginning of the check period in 2013 to Rs 3.32 crore by December 2023, reflecting an exponential rise during his tenure in crucial administrative roles. Investigations detail a web of asset accumulation spanning residential properties in Raipur and Bhilai, high-value land parcels in Chhattisgarh, jewellery holdings, bullion, and significant bank balances. Notably, a residential flat in Raipur’s Labhandi area and a premium property in Naya Raipur’s golf course-linked residential zone were acquired during the check period, alongside multiple land transactions in Durg district. Financial analysis in the FIR indicates that while the couple reported total income of Rs 9 crore during the period, their expenditure alone exceeded Rs 10.97 crore, exposing a clear mismatch and negative savings trajectory, further strengthening the DA charge.

 

The expenditure profile includes foreign remittances, substantial investments in mutual funds and corporate entities, and high-value personal spending, which investigators believe were not commensurate with declared income sources. Tripathi, an Indian Telecom Service officer on deputation to the Chhattisgarh Government, held key posts including Special Secretary (Excise) and MD of CSMCL during the peak years of the alleged liquor syndicate operations, which reportedly facilitated large-scale illegal sale of unaccounted liquor through State-run outlets between 2019 and 2023. A top brass of the Chhattisgarh Government privy to the development, and on explicit condition of not being named, indicated that the State Government is reportedly considering granting consent for similar DA probes by the CBI against other implicated officers to ensure uniformity in action in a case that has now entered a critical investigative phase.

 

“For the reasons, the government doesn’t want its probe agencies to be blamed for pick and choose mode of action in this high-profile and sensitive case,” the official added. Also, it is learnt that a coterie of these errant officers are running from pillar to post to ensure that the whole process of State’s consent for granting DA probes against them to the CBI is entangled in bureaucratic procedures, a whisper of which is already echoing loudly in the power corridors.