The CBI on Thursday summoned former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat for questioning in connection with its Preliminary Enquiry to probe the sting operation CD. The CBI has claimed the CD is genuine.
CBI sources said Rawat will be appearing on Monday for questioning in connection with the PE in which he was purportedly seen talking to middlemen in a bid to strike a deal with dissident Congress MlAs.
The agency has also questioned a dissident MlA who has claimed that Rawat had allegedly offered him Rs2.5 crore for changing sides and one of his ministers later approached him with an offer of Rs10 crore.
The agency has already examined CEO of Samachar Plus channel Umesh Sharma who conducted the sting. Kumar had submitted the unedited version of the CD to the CBI.
The PE was registered on the recommendation of the State Government and subsequently notified by the Centre. The State is presently under President’s rule.
Two days before Rawat was to face vote of confidence on March 28, nine rebel Congress MlAs, led by former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna, had alleged that they were offered bribe by Rawat for support during the floor test in the Uttarakhand Assembly and released a video of the “sting” operation.
The sting CD circulated by the Congress rebels who created a political crisis in the State by siding with BJP in the Assembly, purportedly shows Rawat negotiating a money deal with the journalist to buy the support of the revolting MlAs.
Rawat, who had been insisting that the sting was fake, last week in a volte face virtually admitted his presence in the controversial sting CD, but said it was not a crime to meet a journalist or an MlA and dismissed the conversation shown in the video as “meaningless”.
Reacting to the CBI summons, Rawat voiced doubts over the neutrality of the probe agency, alleging the timing of the move suggests there is an attempt to “influence” the floor test in the Assembly.