CBI Court Reverses Bhupesh Baghel’s Acquittal in 2017 Fake Sex CD Case.
A special CBI court in Raipur on Saturday overturned a magistrate court’s 2017 order that had acquitted former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in the obscene video case involving BJP leader Rajesh Munat.
The case pertains to a purportedly explicit video allegedly depicting Munat, who was serving as Public Works Department minister in the Raman Singh-led government at the time. The special court’s order means Baghel will now have to face trial unless a higher court grants relief.
In the same proceedings, the court rejected appeals filed by other accused—Kailash Murarka, Vinod Verma, and Vijay Bhatia—who had challenged the trial court’s framing of charges against them, sources said.
The matter dates back to 2017, when Munat accused Baghel of circulating sexually explicit videos to tarnish his reputation. Two separate FIRs were registered that year: one at Pandri police station, based on a complaint from BJP leader Prakash Bajaj alleging extortion threats linked to a pornographic video, and another at Civil Lines police station, naming Baghel and senior journalist Vinod Verma for allegedly sharing a fake pornographic video on social media to malign Munat.
The cases were later transferred to the CBI by the then BJP government, which subsequently filed a chargesheet and supplementary chargesheet. Baghel and Verma have denied the allegations throughout.
The controversy first came to light when Verma was arrested by Chhattisgarh Police in October 2017. While being escorted by authorities, he claimed he was being framed due to the alleged sex CD of Munat, which Munat dismissed as “fake” and an attempt at character assassination.
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