New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed an order of the Uttarakhand High Court directing the Central Bureau of Investigation to register an FIR against Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on basis of allegations levelled against him.
A bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, issued notice to the CBI and two journalists, FIR against whom was quashed by the High Court returnable within four weeks. Attorney General KK Venugopal, appearing for the Trivendra Singh Rawat, submitted that the Chief Minister was not a party to this case even and the Uttarakhand High Court’s single-judge bench had ordered a CBI probe without hearing his side.
“This is against the SC verdict, which disallows destabilising the government as such verdicts demand the resignation of the Chief Minister which is happening. Judicial orders can not be passed without hearing the other side and hampering the reputation of an accused, these things should be taken into consideration,” Venugopal submitted.
“Uttarakhand High Court is entirely wrong, look at the consequences. Immediately, what one would anticipate. This was not something, the High Court should do and destabilise the government,” he added and sought an immediate stay on the order.
The Uttarakhand government had approached the Supreme Court against the High Court’s order, which quashed a First Information Report registered against two journalists for cheating and forgery, and directed the CBI to register an FIR Rawat.
Allegations were reportedly levelled against Rawat by a Jharkhand-resident identified as AS Chauhan, who claimed that he had in 2016 struck a deal with Rawat, who was the state in-charge of Jharkhand BJP at the time, worth Rs 25 lakhs for his appointment as chairman Jharkhand Gau Sewa Aayog.
The Uttarakhand High Court had on Tuesday quashed the FIR registered by the state government against two journalists — Umesh Sharma and Shiv Prasad Semwal — for cheating, forgery, and several other sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
