CBI Court Reverses Bhupesh Baghel's Acquittal In 2017 Fake Sex CD Case: Sources

Last Updated:January 24, 2026, 21:06 IST

The special court reversed the earlier magisterial order in the case of obscene video purportedly depicting Rajesh Munnat, who was then serving as the PWD minister.

Former Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel. (File image)

A Special CBI Court in Raipur on Saturday reversed a magistrate court’s order that had discharged former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in the 2017 obscene video case linked to the alleged defamation of former cabinet minister and BJP leader Rajesh Munnat.

The special court reversed the earlier magisterial order in the case of obscene video purportedly depicting Munnat, who was then serving as Public Works Department (PWD) minister in the Raman Singh-led Chhattisgarh government.

In the same proceedings, the court also rejected the appeals filed by other accused—Kailash Murarka, Vinod Verma and Vijay Bhatia—who had challenged the trial court’s order framing of charges against them, sources said.

The reversal by the special CBI court implies that Baghel will have to face trial in the case unless he gets relief from a higher court.

The case dates back to 2017 when Munnat accused Baghel of creating sexually explicit videos allegedly depicting him to tarnish his public image. At the time, Munnat was a sitting BJP MLA and a minister in the state government.

The Chhattisgarh Police registered two separate FIRs in 2017 on the basis of separate complaints filed by Munat and BJP leader Prakash Bajaj.

The cases were later transferred to the CBI by the then BJP government in Chhattisgarh.

The CBI later filed a chargesheet and a supplementary chargesheet in the case.

The first case was registered at the Pandri police station in Raipur on October 26, 2017 against unknown persons on the allegation that the complainant (Bajaj) received a call on his phone wherein an unidentified caller said that he possessed a pornographic video of his “aaka"(master) and threatened to distribute it in case his demand of ransom was not met," a CBI spokesperson had said.

According to the official, the other case was registered at the Civil Lines police station in Raipur on October 27, 2017, against Chhattisgarh Congress president Bhupesh Baghel and senior journalist Vinod Verma on the allegation that they had given Munat’s fake pornographic video to various social media platforms to malign his character and obtain political mileage.

Verma and Baghel denied the allegations.

The matter came to light when Verma was arrested by the Chhattisgarh Police from his Ghaziabad residence in October 2017 for suspected blackmail and extortion in the case.

When Verma was being escorted by the police, he claimed that the state government was not happy with him as it suspected that he had a “sex CD of (then) Chhattisgarh PWD minister Rajesh Munat" and suggested he was being framed.

Munat had called it “fake" and an attempt at character assassination.

(With inputs from agencies)

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