New Delhi: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat will today appear before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with a probe into the sting operation in which he was allegedly shown offering bribe to rebel Congress MLAs to save his government.
On Sunday, the CBI asked Rawat to appear before the agency on 24 May.
The CBI had last week rejected the Uttarakhand government's notification withdrawing the case related to the sting operation.
The agency had said the notification was rejected after taking legal opinion, which said there was no ground for its withdrawal and it was "not legally tenable".
The CBI had summoned Rawat on May 5, too, for questioning after he was shown in the “sting” allegedly offering money to rebel Congress lawmakers to win their support during a floor test in the 70-member house. The floor test never took place.
Officials of the investigating had said they would go ahead with their probe into the alleged sting as the Uttarakhand government’s decision to withdraw the recommendation for such a probe had been found “legally untenable”.
The “sting” video was shot by a Noida-based private TV channel, Samachar Plus, and released by the rebel Congress legislators who crossed over to the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party.
The BJP had alleged that Rawat had tried to buy back the support of his own lawmakers who rebelled against him. Rawat has denied the allegation, saying he was being framed.
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The union home ministry sent a CD of the video to the forensics laboratory in Chandigarh to examine its authenticity.
A source in the Central Bureau of Investigation said the forensic report “confirmed” that the CD was genuine and “undoctored”, after “which Harish Rawat was asked to appear on Monday for questioning”.
The source said CBI officials have also questioned property developer-turned-journalist Umesh Kumar, who claimed to have carried out the sting operation.
“Umesh accepted he conducted the sting operation,” the source told IANS.
(IANS inputs)
