Alleging that the Central Bureau of Investigation is working under the pressure from the BJP-led Central Government, the Pradesh Congress Committee has requested that investigation in to alleged corruption cases in Uttarakhand should be conducted by a committee of sitting judges of the High Court. A memorandum to this effect was submitted to Uttarakhand Governor Krishan Kant Paul by a Congress delegation led by the PCC president Kishore Upadhyay on Monday.
The PCC chief said, with regard to the incident of purported corruption, the Congress had submitted a memorandum to the Governor on April 18 requesting that a capable and independent agency be given the task of conducting a time-bound and fair investigation into all the alleged cases of corruption since 2012 till date.
The Congress party has already stated that it is ready to face any investigation into allegations of corruption leveled by the opposition. Upadhyay said that any case of alleged corruption since the creation of Uttarakhand State on November 9, 2000 till the imposition of president’s rule in Uttarakhand should be investigated by a capable and independent agency.
In addition to independent inquiry in to all the alleged corruption cases, the assets of all former Chief Ministers should also be probed and the information should be made public. Expressing concern at investigation into the alleged corruption cases by the CBI, the PCC chief told the governor Krishan Kant Paul that “the CBI is working under pressure from the Central Government”.
He said, “We do not have faith in the CBI which is functioning under Central pressure and hence we are requesting that the task of conducting investigation into all the alleged cases of corruption since 2000 till the present be conducted by a committee composed of sitting judges of the High Court in order to ensure independent and fair inquiry. In addition to this, the status of land allotted to various Non-Governmental and other bodies since the creation of Utarakhand should also be investigated to ascertain whether the land is being used as intended.”
MlA and former Cabinet minister Dinesh Aggarwal, PCC vice-president Jot Singh Bisht and other party members were also part of the Congress delegation.