The Supreme Court Thursday stayed the Uttarakhand High Court order for a CBI probe against Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. The probe against the chief minister was ordered in connection with the transfer of money into his bank accounts in 2016, to support appointment of a person as head of 'Gau Seva Ayog' of Jharkhand.
A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan said the "drastic order" passed by the high court without hearing the Chief Minister has taken "everybody by surprise" as there was no prayer in the plea by the journalists to lodge an FIR against Rawat.
Attorney General KK Venugopal, appearing for Rawat, said that an FIR cannot be lodged without hearing the party who is the Chief Minister and this would "unsettle the elected government".
"An elected government cannot be unsettled like this. The question is can a suo motu order be passed without hearing the party," Venugopal told the bench.
(With inputs from PTI)
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