New Delhi, May 1 (UNI) The Supreme Court on Thursday granted interim bail to three more accused in the Chhattisgarh coal levy scam, aligning with its earlier decision granting similar relief to other co-accused.

A bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice N. Kotiswar Singh passed the order by adopting the reasoning recorded in its March 3 order, which had extended interim bail to other accused, including former civil servants Saumya Chaurasia and Ranu Sahu.

The court directed that the interim bail is conditional upon the submission of satisfactory bail bonds before the trial court.

The Top Court also directed the authorities to submit a status report on the conduct of the three accused --Laxmikant Tiwari, Manish Upadhyay and Parekh Kurre, during the interim bail period by the next hearing date.

During the proceedings, the Court heard as many as 23 petitions related to the scam. However, cases pursued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had to be adjourned due to the absence of Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S.V. Raju, who cited personal reasons.

In a related matter, when accused Suryakant Tiwari's bail plea came up, Justice Surya Kant remarked that the Court was not inclined to grant interim bail, observing, "He is the main accused, the main culprit."

Senior Advocate Siddharth Aggarwal also highlighted a writ petition filed by Ranu Sahu, raising the issue of repeated arrests by investigating agencies.

Justice Kant clarified that the Court had only tagged the petition with the rest and would decide later whether to entertain it.

Posting the matter for further hearing on May 15, the bench noted that Ranu Sahu's bail plea pending before the High Court (scheduled for hearing on May 5) should proceed independently.

Responding to the State’s concerns, Justice Kant remarked, "They are not hardened criminals... The allegation is that they misused political power at a particular point in time and indulged in corruption."

Senior Advocates Siddharth Dave, Mukta Gupta, Siddharth Aggarwal, and Gaurav Agarwal appeared for the petitioners.

Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati and Deputy Advocate General Ravi Sharma represented the State.

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