In a major setback for the BJP in State ahead of the lok Sabha polls, Governor Urmila Singh has given her nod for prosecuting former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal after seeking legal opinion on the file sent to her hurriedly by the Himachal Government.
Acting chief secretary P Mitra, who had met Governor Urmila Singh on Tuesday, has according to sources, submitted the file seeking prosecution sanction against Dhumal in the HPCA case. According to sources, the Governor on Wednesday gave her approval after seeking legal opinion in the case.
According to rules, in this case only the Governor can give prosecution sanction against Dhumal. According to the charge sheet prepared by the Vigilance Bureau in HPCA irregularities case, he was then the Chief Minister when the alleged irregularities were done. On the other hand, despite resentment in the State's bureaucracy over implication of senior IAS and HAS officers, the State Government has approved to prosecute two senior IAS officers, including one additional chief secretary Deepak Sanan and the other Ajay Sharma and two HAS officers Gopal Chand and DC Rana.
The State Personnel Department will now seek nod for prosecution sanction from the department of personnel and training, Government of India, after which the charge sheet will be submitted in the special court. The haste with which things are going on and the charge sheet was prepared has come under immense criticism from the IAS and HAS bodies and they have even submitted a memorandum to the State Government and have decided to meet Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on the issue.
Meanwhile, the Governor's nod for prosecution sanction against Dhumal ahead of the polls is likely to open floodgates of allegations and counter-allegations during the poll campaign as the BJP has already started playing the political vendetta and victimization card. The Government has also decided to seek prosecution sanction against Dhumal's parliamentarian son, Anurag Thakur, from the lok Sabha Speaker. "Once the prosecution sanction against all the accused and co-accused is received, the charge sheet will be submitted in the special court for trial," said a senior vigilance official probing the case.