The Chhattisgarh High Court has delivered a significant setback to businessman Vijay Bhatia, an accused in the high-profile multi-crore liquor scam. The court dismissed the criminal writ petition filed by Bhatia. A division bench, presided over by Chief Justice Ramesh Kumar Sinha, heard the petition on Thursday. Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, representing Bhatia, argued that the investigating agency, the ACB, had arrested Vijay Bhatia without proper summons. Advocate Saurabh Pandey, representing the ACB, stated that the agency had questioned approximately 300 witnesses and gathered sufficient evidence in the case. He clarified that Vijay Bhatia was handed over to the ACB by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on May 31, 2025, and was presented before a magistrate in Raipur within 24 hours, on June 1. After hearing arguments from all parties, the court dismissed Vijay Bhatia’s writ petition. Preliminary investigations indicate that Bhatia made approximately 15 crore rupees through the supply of liquor from a foreign company. He is accused of using the scam money to invest in properties. The case is under investigation by both the EOW and ACB. Vijay Bhatia is currently in judicial custody, and the investigating agencies are questioning him.
