Responding to leader of Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha and BJP State chief Ajay Bhatt’s statement regarding a probe into the assets of former Chief Minister Harish Rawat, the Congress in Uttarakhand has requested the Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court for the formation of a five-member non-political inquiry commission on Rawat’s property. This was stated at a joint press conference held by former Cabinet Minister Pritam Singh and former CM’s media adviser Surendra Kumar on Sunday evening.
Elaborating on the request to the High Court Chief Justice, Kumar said that the inquiry commission should have five capable persons with at least one of them being from the judicial sphere. An official statement issued also states that the party is fully prepared for an investigation into any property acquired by Harish Rawat during his term in office as the State Chief Minister.
The former Cabinet Minister and media in charge of the ex-Chief Minister demanded that an independent investigation should be undertaken not only into property and other assets acquired by Harish Rawat during his term as chief minister from 2007 till recently but should also bring under its purview, the property and assets acquired by all former chief ministers during their term in office and later.
The Congress men demanded that an independent and unbiased inquiry commission should be formed consisting entirely of non-political capable persons. Appreciating the effort made by the former CM towards drafting of a legal provision for seizure of benami property, they have requested the Governor to issue an ordinance on this based on the bill tabled in the Vidhan Sabha.
Referring to the sting operation carried out on Rawat, Kumar said, “We would also like to ask the BJP leaders whether the sting operation was carried out by a journalist or directed by the BJP. If a journalist conducted the sting, why was the clip first aired on his television news channel as stated in directions of the Supreme Court regarding sting operationIJ According to the Supreme Court, the sting should be broadcast within 24 hours of being carried out but this sting was broadcast 72 hours later at a press conference held in Delhi. Why is the sting operation film not being shown in its entirety, or is it a criminal attempt to misguide the public by showing only some part of the recordingIJ A Chief Minister who needs to save his Government is shown stating in the sting that he does not have even `5 crore, that he has nothing with himself. Isn’t this statement an evidence of Rawat not having acquired wealth and property dubiously,” questioned Kumar.