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CBI grills Harish Rawat for 5 hours. 'Arrest me if you want,' he dares

Akash Bisht | Updated on: 10 February 2017, 1:50 IST

Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat was grilled for five hours by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday in connection with the sting operation allegedly involving him. Rawat reached the CBI headquarters at 11 am and came out at 4 pm after being questioned by investigating officers who, according to reports, were not satisfied with his responses. Rawat has been called in again for further questioning on 7 June.

Earlier in the day, huge crowds had gathered at Rawat's residence in Delhi and were heard shouting slogans in support of the chief minister before he was to leave for CBI. With vermillion smeared on his forehead, Rawat must have sought divine intervention as he emerged out of his residence amongst sloganeering.

He said, "This is a conspiracy. A solution will definitely emerge. The impression should not go that I am ignoring the CBI. The state government had decided to form an SIT to probe the sting and we had informed the central government on that. We remain firm on our stand even today."

Why isn't CBI questioning BJP leaders like Shivraj Chouhan & Pankaja Munde, ask Rawat's supporters

Braving the Delhi heat, his supporters, including some top state leaders, waited patiently and were constantly getting updates from those who had parked themselves outside the CBI headquarters. "Since the BJP couldn't remove Harish Rawat as chief minister, now it is using the CBI to do so. Why is the investigating agency not questioning Madhya Pradesh chief minister for his alleged role in the Vyapam scam?" asked Uttarakhand Congress chief Kishore Upadhyay.

He is one of the several leaders who camped at Rawat's residence through the day waiting anxiously for him to return. After waiting for five hours, news trickled in that Rawat has finally left the CBI headquarters and was heading home.

Rawat's arrival was announced by slogans in support of the chief minister and while he began to greet his supporters, his lawyers informed that he has been called in again for questioning. "I have done nothing wrong and do not have to give anyone any proof of my innocence," he told the media.

A visibly distraught Rawat then entered his residence greeting all the senior leaders present. While talking to them, Rawat's hands were trembling evidently from the questioning that he had undergone for five hours. "I told them arrest me if you want to. I have nothing to hide," he said.

Sequence of events

On 29 April, the CBI had registered a Preliminary Enquiry against Rawat on the sting video at the request of the Governor KK Paul when the state was under President's Rule. In the video, Rawat is allegedly seen luring rebel Congress leaders to protect his government before the 28 April floor test that never happened.

On 15 May, the Uttarakhand government had sent a proposal to CBI to withdraw investigations against Rawat and its decision of constituting an SIT to probe the charges. The state cabinet thereafter withdrew the Governor's notification of a probe into the sting under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act.

"There is a provision under the Act which empowers state Cabinet to take back a CBI investigation into any criminal case," Shatrughna Singh, the Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand had said. Rawat had earlier evaded summons by the CBI.

Earlier, the Uttarakhand High Court in its order had asked Rawat to cooperate with the agency and requested the CBI to show regard to the office of the chief minister. But that wasn't the case and sources say that Rawat was literally grilled on 24 May by the investigating officers.

Supporters incensed

Rawat's supporters were especially critical of the CBI and claimed that the agency could have come to Dehradun to question the CM instead of making it such a public spectacle. "It is sad that he is being treated like a petty criminal. He was entrapped and entrapment is not a sting and that has been our argument," said Jot Singh Bisht, a Rawat supporter.

He added that there is no doubt on whose order is the CBI functioning. "Why is the agency only targetting Congress leaders? Why didn't CBI investigate BJP leader Pankaja Munde who cleared purchases worth Rs 206 crore without inviting any tenders? Why wasn't Giriraj Singh questioned when robbers stole Ra 1.14 crore from his house? Why didn't the CBI ask the minister where did he get the money from?"

In fact, Rawat is not the only Congress chief minister being grilled by the CBI. The investigating agency raided the house of Himachal Pradesh CM Virbhadra Singh on the day of his daughter's wedding. The timing of the action seemed vindictive. Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad had then said, "Is this democracy or dictatorship? Has Emergency been declared?"

Ever since Narendra Modi led government has come to power, CBI has initiated probes against several Congress leaders. Apart from these two incumbent chief ministers, former CMs Ashok Gehlot and Bhupinder Singh Hooda are being probed by the investigating agency. Even Karti Chidambaram, Sachin Pilot and Vaylar Ravi's son, Ravi Krishna, are under the CBI scanner for their role in Ambulance Scam.

In 2013, when the revelations of Coalgate Scam were made public, an irate Justice RM Lodha had called CBI a "caged parrot" and "its master's voice". Back then Arun Jaitley had said, "Considering the enormous amount of misuse of political clout, the CBI has lost its credibility."

Would Jaitley and the BJP agree that the CBI has yet again become a caged parrot with new masters?

First published: 24 May 2016, 9:38 IST