Suspended IAS officer Vinay Chaubey, arrested in the liquor scam, has knocked the door of Jharkhand High Court against the two-day remand given by the ACB court. Chaubey has filed a petition challenging the remand seeking quashing of the FIR and the actions taken against him. In his petition filed under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Choubey has claimed that the ACBs actions are baseless and that he has no involvement in the case The petition states that the ACB arrested him after interrogation on the same day the FIR was registered and presented him in the court. After this, the ACB applied to take him on remand in the court. This application of the ACB was opposed. The ACB had arrested him only after interrogation, after which there was no need to take him on remand. By presenting him in the court on the day of filing the FIR, it appears that the ACBs interrogation was completed. In such a situation, it is not appropriate to order him on remand. Former excise secretary cum excise commissioner Vinay Chaubey and joint excise commissioner Gajendra Singh have been suspended by the state government. The Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms has issued a notification in this regard after the order of the Chief Minister. Both the officers have been suspended from the date of arrest, 20 May. However, this time the personnel department has not made the suspension order public through IPRD. ACB arrested Vinay Chaubey and Gajendra Singh on 20 May after interrogation in the liquor scam of about Rs 38 crores. Then the court sent them to Birsa Munda Central Jail in judicial custody. It is known that there is a provision to suspend any government employee in case he remains in custody for more than 48 hours.  Choubey, who previously served as Secretary of the Excise Department and Secretary to CM Hemant Soren, was arrested on May 20 after extensive interrogation by ACB officials. Investigations revealed his alleged role in policy manipulations that enabled illegal activities in the liquor trade during his tenure. The scam, which reportedly occurred between 2019 and 2022, involves liquor being supplied from a syndicate in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, to Jharkhand using fake holograms and unauthorized channels. An FIR was filed in September 2024 by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), accusing Choubey of making deliberate changes to Jharkhands liquor policy between 2022 and 2023 to benefit a corrupt network of vendors. According to the FIR, this group manipulated tendering processes, sold unaccounted domestic liquor using fake holograms, and illegally distributed foreign liquor, earning crores of rupees in unlawful commissions. The scam led to a significant drain on Jharkhands revenues and has uncovered a deep nexus between government officials and private liquor dealers.

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