BJP outrightly rejects Cong demand for CM’s resignation
The State government has filed a special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court against the order of the Uttarakhand high court directing a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the case of the social media post targeting the chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat.
Addressing the media at the party state office, the Bharatiya Janata Party state chief spokesman and MLA Munna Singh Chauhan said that they respect the high court decision but added that the order is not satisfactory. Outrightly rejecting the demand raised by the Congress for the chief minister’s resignation on moral grounds, he said that the Congress is making such a demand on baseless points.
It will be recalled that earlier on Tuesday, the high court single bench of justice Ravindra Maithani had quashed the FIR lodged in a case of a social media post targeting the CM and had ordered a CBI probe in the case. The order was made in a petition filed by the accused Umesh Sharma seeking quashing of the FIR. In the case, retired professor Harendra Singh Rawat had lodged a police complaint against Sharma for attempted blackmailing and other alleged crimes on July 31. The petitioner had uploaded a video on the social media in which he had claimed that a person from Jharkhand had deposited money in the account of Rawat and his wife during demonetisation and that this money was to be given to the chief minister. He had further claimed in the video that the retired professor’s wife was the sister of the chief minister’s wife. In the police complaint, the retired professor had stated that all the allegations were false and baseless, and that the bank documents shown in the video were forged.
Appearing for Sharma, senior Supreme Court lawyer Kapil Sibal and others in a case of alleged transactions during demonitisation lodged against Sharma in Jharkhand, he was already out on bail. Considering this, an accused cannot be arrested twice in the same case. After hearing the arguments, the high court had quashed the FIR lodged against Sharma and ordered a CBI probe in the case.
