Shimla: Rattled by Himachal High Court having turned down a plea for a CBI investigation in the infamous CD case, union steel minister Virbhadra Singh today said that various options lay open, including re-approaching the same court or filing a special leave petition before the Supreme Court in the matter
Talking to media persons, Virbhadra said that this court case would not stop his fight against the misrule of chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and his BJP government, where corruption was rampant.
“Being a public figure, I’m open to transparent scrutiny and have been demanding a CBI inquiry into the audio CD conspiracy case against me as I do not have faith in the state government machinery which is misusing the state vigilance bureau to frame me,†he said.
“I have more faith in a central investigating agency as the state was using the police for settling political vendetta,†he added.
He said that before framing of charges in the case, options of approaching the High Court again or the Supreme Court remained open as the court order had refrained the investigating agency from filing of the challan in the trial court for 15 days.
Reading out a passage from the court order that turned down the plea for transferring the case investigation to CBI, the union minister said that it was wrong to say that the order had rejected his petition for quashing of the very FIR in the case as they had not pressed the matter before the court.
The court turned down the plea for transfer of case investigation to CBI on 3rd September on the grounds that without considering the material collected by the investigating agency till now it cannot be said that the case is fit or not for CBI investigations, he said.
Making a reference to another set of two audio CDs, which are allegedly said to contain the voices of Dhumal and police chief DS Manhas, he said that dual investigation standards were being applied when it came to investigations the content of these CDs .
“Instead of investigating the contents of the CD, the investigation is focusing on trying to figure out as to who mailed this material, whereas no effort has been made to establish the source of the fabricated audio CD against me even though a forensic lab had already questioned its authenticity.
Alluding to reports about Dhumal having acquire properties after coming to power, Virbhadra said that after vesting ancestral property with the state and retaining only what was permissible under the law, he had not bought any other property even after of being in public life for 48 year, other than a flat in Delhi, which he had got as a member of a MPs society.
The case pertains to investigations carried out by State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau in a case related to recorded telephone conversations said to have taken place in the mid 1990’s in which Virbhadra Singh and his wife Pratibha Singh are allegedly heard talking about illegal money transactions with a former bureaucrat Mohinder Lal, who has since died.
Photo Credit: Amit Kanwar
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads the team of media professionals at Hill Post.
In a career spanning over two decades through all formats of journalism in Electronic, Print and Online Media, he brings with him enough experience to steer this platform. He lives in Shimla.
What for politicians are trying too hard to be in power? Itni desh bhakti hoti kisi ek leader me to apne bete ko army main bharti karvate to serve mother INDIA….not by amassing wealth indirectly and trying to pose Messiah.
Never ever a shrewed politician makes properties directly in his/her own name, thats a fools style… make brother in laws rich, make sons friends rich..give them contracts.. create mega plans for development in any area…cement plants…establishment of educational institutes..tourism promotion…and before publishing & publicising these plans publically…swallow best land and major cream of benefits in benamai partnerships…make party supporters rich so that they give party funds without issuing a “donation funds slip” ..
Seeing at INDIAN politics..it seems like a “Vicious Dark Hole” where one peeps into to see how deep it is…but never finds other end !
Whats the difference between the British rule and present ill fated democracy in INDIA? Nothing much…just the FORMAT of loot has changed, nothing else.. But the Britishers were at least loyal to their own Home Land and nation, not like hungry INDIAN politicians who are looting own fellow countrymen & national resources like devils !
I wish and hope someday together ‘they’ fight for HIMACHAL too… rather than against this and that !
Just like most high profile cases, this one is highly likely to head for the supreme court eventually. You know what that means; it may be another 8-10 years (at the very least) before this is finally over.
As far as the question of amassing wealth, this is just one’s word against another. I can’t believe a word, that comes out of either mouth.
Benami partnerships and availing opportunities based on insider information are rampant in political circles and to say otherwise, is just an attempt to hoodwink the public through the media.
That brings up another interesting point, that is “Conflict of Interest”. We all know that a number of politicians are business people as well. Aren’t those who actively hold positions in the government including elected officials and their family members, barred from any tender and government related acquisition/business acitviites?
I think, an RTI query on acquisitions or service related activities on a few of the departments in the last 10 or so years, should reveal some interesting facts, pertaining to Conflict of Interest amongst our serving officials.