New Delhi, Nov 14 (Reporter) The Supreme Court on Thursday granted interim protection from arrest to former Chhattisgarh bureaucrat Anil Tuteja in a plea challenging Allahabad High Court order which refused to quash criminal proceedings initiated against him in Uttar Pradesh in connection with the Chhattisgarh liquor scam. A bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih granted interim relief to Tuteja after noting that other accused persons in the case had already been granted relief by the top court. The Court was hearing the plea by retired IAS Officer Anil Tuteja and 3 others challenging the October 4 Allahabad High Court decision refusing to quash criminal proceedings initiated in Uttar Pradesh in connection with the Chhattisgarh liquor scam The apex court said: "Even if petitioner appears before the trial court, he shall not be taken into custody." The court said that the order shall apply to other connected matters as well. The apex court issued fresh notices to respondents who remain unserved. On April 8 this year, the Supreme Court quashed the ED's July 2023 money laundering complaint on the ground that there was no predicate offence (the ED's complaint was based on certain provisions of the Income Tax Act which did not fall in the PMLA's list of scheduled offences). Four of the accused in the case - Anil Tuteja, Anwar Dhebar, Arun Pati Tripathi and Niranjan Das - then filed petitions before the Allahabad High Court to quash the UP police FIR as well. The High Court refused to quash the case saying that even if the Supreme Court had quashed a money laundering case in a related matter, it would not prevent the continuation of criminal proceedings initiated in Uttar Pradesh against Tuteja and others. The High Court said that the witness statements collected by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) and shared with the Uttar Pradesh police can continue to form the basis of criminal proceedings initiated in Uttar Pradesh (UP). Tuteja then moved the Supreme Court against the High Court order. Today, when the matters of the four accused persons (including Tuteja) were taken up, the Supreme Court was informed that notice was yet to be served on some of the respondents in connected matters. The Court then proceeded to issue fresh notice to unserved respondents. The Court also sought responses from the ED and the State of Uttar Pradesh on Tuteja's plea and posted the matter for January 21, 2025 for all accused persons. The matter against Tuteja and others involves allegations of a Rs 2,000 crore liquor syndicate racket operating in Chhattisgarh during the tenure of Congress Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. The ED registered a money laundering case in the matter on July 4, 2023. During its probe, the ED found that there was a Uttar Pradesh link also to the case. The statements of witnesses were recorded by the ED which allegedly revealed details about a company in Noida which was illegally granting tenders to supply holograms (which are fixed to liquor bottles for its authentication and to confirm excise duty payments) to the Excise Department of Chhattisgarh. A first information report (FIR) was registered by Uttar Pradesh on July 30, 2023 against Tuteja and others. Tuteja then approached the High Court to quash proceedings against him. The High Court on October 4, refused to quash proceedings initiated against Tuteja, Anwar Dhebar (brother of Raipur's mayor) and two others in connection with the case...////...