U'khand govt moves SC challenging HC's order for CBI probe against CM

Oct 28, 2020

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], October 28 : The Uttarakhand government has approached the Supreme Court against an order of the High Court's order, which quashed a First Information Report registered against two journalists for cheating and forgery, and directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to register an FIR on basis of allegations levelled against Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat.
The Uttarakhand High Court had yesterday 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).
The single-judge bench of Justice Ravindra Maithani had also directed the Superintendent of Police, CBI Dehradun to register an FIR on the basis of the allegations levelled against the Chief Minister.
Allegations were 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 FIR, quashed by the High Court, was registered against the two journalists under Sections 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 469 (forgery for purpose of harming reputation), 471 (dishonestly using forged documents) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC at Nehru Colony Police Station, in Dehradun.