Although the chargesheet in the horse trading case during Rajya Sabha elections of 2012 has been prepared by the CBI, it is waiting a go-ahead from headquarters for filing.
According to an affidavit filed at the Jharkhand High Court on May 10, CBI had promised it would file the chargesheet within a fortnight, as soon as it obtains sanctions from the Speaker against the accused legislators.
“The chargesheet is ready but there are still some formalities to be completed. We will file as soon as we get final consent from the headquarters,” confirmed a CBI official.
“Probably, it will be filed till the end of this month,” he added. The official however, refused to share any further information in this regard but the sources in the department revealed that at least a dozen of MlAs have been booked in the case, including the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MlA Sita Soren.
The CBI had sought sanctions against the MlAs involved in the horse trading scam and the Speaker CP Singh is said to have granted sanction against at least eight MlAs on May 18. The probable names in this case include those legislators whose houses were raided by the CBI after it seized Rs 2.15 crore from an aide of RK Agrawal, who was also an independent candidate in the Rajys Sabha polls, early in March last year.
The CBI had raided the houses of Chandra Prakash Choudhary, Umakant Rajak and Kamal Kishore Bhagat (all Ajsu), Arun Mandal and Ramchandra Baitha (BJP), Vishnu Bhaiya, Sita Soren and Poulus Surin (all JMM), Sanjay Prasad Yadav, Sanjay Singh Yadav, Janardan Paswan and Suresh Paswan (all RJD), Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saurabh Narayan Singh, K.N. Tripathi and Anant Pratap Deo (all Congress), besides Bandhu Trikey and Chamra linda (Independents).
Besides, the premises of two Independent candidates--R K Agrawal and Pawan Dhoot-- and their half a dozen aides and relatives as well as the house of former BJP MP Ajay Maroo were also searched by the CBI. The CBI arrested Agrawal from Ranchi on May 14. The High Court had directed the CBI to take up investigations following a PIl filed by activist Durga Oraon.