Even as Supreme Court has issued a stay order on CBI probe against Trivendra Singh Rawat, Congress general secretary Harish Rawat has demanded resignation of the CM on moral grounds.
Nainital High Court had ordered a CBI investigation against the Uttarakhand CM on the basis of charges levelled against him by two journalists. On October 29, the Supreme Court issues a stay order on the High Court’s ruling and sent notice to the CBI and two journalists, whose FIR was quashed by the HC.
A bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, was hearing the petition filed by Attorney General KK Venugopal on behalf of Trivendra Singh Rawat. The petition stated that the Uttarakhand High Court’s single judge bench had ordered a CBI probe without hearing his appeal.
Congress had earlier demanded CM Rawat’s resignation after the HC ordered the CBI prove against him.
“A chief minister, who does not tire of flaunting the state government’s policy of zero tolerance to corruption, has no right to continue in office for a minute after an order like this,” state Congress chief Pritam Singh said at a joint press conference.
Former CM Harish Rawat had said that court’s order should be taken seriously, asking the chief minister to quit to bring out an impartial probe into the matter.
“After the high court’s order, the chief minister should quit immediately to pave the way for an impartial probe into the charges against him,” he said.
Allegations against the CM have allegedly been levelled by a Jharkhand-resident who claimed that he had paid Rawat, then state in-charge of Jharkhand, worth Rs 25 lakh for his appointment as chairman of Jharkhand Gau Sewa Aayog.