Cancelling an FIR lodged in a case of a social media post targeting chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, the Uttarakhand high court has ordered an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case.
The petition filed by the accused Umesh Sharma seeking quashing of the FIR was heard by the single bench of justice Ravindra Maithani. In the case, retired professor Harendra Singh Rawat had lodged a police complaint against Sharma for attempted blackmailing and other alleged crimes on July 31. The petitioner had uploaded a video on the social media in which he had claimed that a person from Jharkhand had deposited money in the account of Rawat and his wife during demonetisation and that this money was to be given to the chief minister. He had further claimed in the video that the retired professor’s wife was the sister of the chief minister’s wife.
In the police complaint, the retired professor had stated that all the allegations were false and baseless, and that the bank documents shown in the video were forged. Appearing for Sharma, senior Supreme Court lawyer Kapil Sibal and others in a case of alleged transactions during demonitisation lodged against Sharma in Jharkhand, he was already out on bail. Considering this, an accused cannot be arrested twice in the same case. After hearing the arguments, the high court quashed the FIR lodged against Sharma and ordered a CBI probe in the case.
Wednesday, 28 October 2020 | PNS | Nainital
