PrashantNews
Amid renewed attacks by Congress, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has put the ball in the BJP high command’s court on the issue of registering a case against State Agriculture Minister Ganesh Joshi for allegedly acquiring assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
“Since the issue is politically sensitive, I think the Chief Minister must have sought guidance from the party High command,” a top ruling BJP leader said. However, he did not elaborate further in view of the Kedarnath assembly byelection.
The state vigilance department has sought the permission from the government to register a case against Joshi for allegedly acquiring assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
On September 2, the Vigilance told the court of Special Judge Vigilance/First Additional Sessions Judge Manish Mishra that it had sent a letter regarding the matter to the Council of Ministers on July 8 and now it has to take a decision in this regard.
Stating that the Council of Ministers is the highest decision-making body of the executive under the Indian Constitution, Justice Mishra said that the Supreme Court has set a time period of three months for any prosecution sanction. He said that in view of this, it is justified to wait for the decision of the Council of Ministers in this matter till October 8.
The court also asked the Secretary, Council of Ministers (Secrecy Department) to inform this court about the decision of the Council of Ministers and fixed October 19 as the next date of the hearing in the case.
Dehradun-based RTI activist Vikesh Negi had filed a complaint with the Vigilance in March this year, accusing Joshi of acquiring assets disproportionate to his income through corruption. Along with his complaint, Negi had also attached documents about the agriculture minister’s income and acquired assets. Negi’s advocates G C Sharma and Anu Pant said that the Vigilance has found the facts mentioned in the complaint correct in the preliminary investigation and now the decision of the Council of Ministers is awaited in this regard.
Meanwhile, state Congress President Karan Mahra in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi has drawn his attention toward cabinet minister Joshi, who is facing charges of corruption. In this regard, Mahra reminded the Prime Minister of his pledge taken at the Red Fort to make India corruption-free.
Former Chief Minister Harish Rawat also slammed the Chief Minister for delaying the decision on the issue.